T 

se 


MUNICIPAL 
GOVERNMENT 


, 


BY 


FRANK  J.  GOODNOW,  LL.D. 

President,  The  Johns  Hopkins  University 


AND 


FRANK  G.  BATES,  Ph.D. 

Associate  Professor  of  Political  Science 
in  Indiana  University 


NEW  YORK 
THE  CENTURY  CO. 

1919 


Copyright,  19 19,  by 
THE  CENTUBY  Co. 


MAIN  LIBRARY 


PREFACE 

To  the  Second  Edition 

THE  decade  which  has  elapsed  since  the  publication  of  the 
first  edition  of  this  text  has  been  an  eventful  one  in  the  field  of 
municipal  government.  In  the  preparation  of  a  new  edition 
two  objects  have  been  kept  particularly  in  mind.  First,  An 
effort  has  been  made  to  bring  the  text  abreast  of  the  times  by 
a  revision  of  statements  of  fact  and  by  giving  attention  to  mat- 
ters of  recent  interest,  such  as  municipal  home  rule,  the  devices 
of  direct  government,  the  newer  forms  of  organization,  the 
relation  of  the  city  to  its  public  utilities  and  municipal  finance. 
In  the  second  place  there  has  been  revision  of  form  in  the  di- 
rection of  greater  simplicity  of  presentation. 

It  is  hoped  that  the  text  will  prove  especially  serviceable  to 
those  students  who  must  encompass  all  phases  of  municipal 
government: — its  place  in  the  governmental  system,  its  organi- 
zation and  its  functioning,  within  the  limits  of  a  single  course. 
The  lists  of  references  at  the  beginning  of  chapters  include  such 
readings  as  are  readily  available  and  are  adapted  to  the  use 
of  undergraduate  classes. 

Acknowledgment  should  here  be  made  of  the  assistance 
gained  from  the  bibliographical  labors  of  Professor  William  B. 
Munro  of  Harvard  University. 

July,  1919. 

FRANK  J.  GOODNOW. 
FRANK  G.  BATES. 


PREFACE 

To  the  First  Edition 

IN  the  belief  that  there  was  a  demand  for  a  book  on 
municipal  government  somewhat  comprehensive  in  its  scope 
and  attempting  to  cover,  however  incompletely,  the  entire  field, 
''Municipal  Government"  has  been  written.  The  endeavor 
has  been  made  therefore  to  treat  both  the  historical  develop- 
ment of  city  institutions  in  western  Europe  and  to  discover  the 
characteristics  which  distinguish  the  social  conditions  of  mod- 
ern urban  populations,  in  the  hope  that  help  might  be  obtained 
in  the  solution  of  the  problems  presented  by  city  life. 

The  fulfilment  of  the  purpose  which  the  author  has  had  in 
mind  has  made  it  necessary  to  cover  some  of  the  ground  already 
covered  in  books  from  his  pen.  This  is  particularly  true  of 
his  ' '  City  Government  in  the  United  States, ' '  from  which  much 
of  the  matter  in  the  present  work  having  reference  to  the  condi- 
tions existing  in  American  cities  has  been  taken. 

It  has  been  the  author's  hope,  in  writing  the  following  pages, 
that  they  might  both  prove  of  value  to  that  increasing  body  of 
students  in  colleges  and  high  schools,  who  devote  some  portion 
of  their  time  to  the  study  of  municipal  government  and  be  of 
interest  to  that  part  of  the  general  public,  apparently  also 
increasing  in  number,  who  are  endeavoring  to  solve  the  prob- 
lems arising  in  connection  with  urban  development. 

FRANK  J.  GOODNOW. 
COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY 
August  1,  1909. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I  GROWTH  OP  CITIES 3 

The  city,  3 ;  Extent  of  urban  growth,  4 ;  Urban  growth  a  recent  thing,  6 ; 
Sources  of  growth,  7 ;  General  facts  affecting  growth,  9 ;  Motives  for  city- 
forming,  11;  Trade  as  a  motive,  15;  Breaks  in  trade  routes,  16;  Railways 
and  customs  tariffs,  18 ;  Industry  as  a  motive,  20 ;  Evolution  of  industry,  21. 

II  CHARACTER  OP  CITY  POPULATIONS 25 

Existence  of  an  urban  type,  25;  Heterogeneity  of  population,  25;  Public 
health  in  cities,  27;  Women  in  cities,  28;  Home  life,  31;  Economic  condi- 
tions, 32;  Age  of  city  population,  33;  Intellectual  conditions,  35;  Conclu- 
sions as  to  character,  36;  Effect  on  political  problems,  39;  Effect  on  political 
position,  40 ;  Effect  on  functions,  40 ;  Effect  on  municipal  organization,  41 ; 
The  problem  presented,  42. 

III  THE  CITY-STATE 44 

Periods  in  municipal  history,  44 ;  The  city-state  idea,  44 ;  The  Greek  city- 
state,  45 ;  The  Roman  city,  46 ;  The  rise  of  walled  cities,  50 ;  Rise  of 
municipal  government  in  Italy,  52;  German  episcopal  cities,  53;  Municipal 
independence  in  Germany,  55;  Free  cities,  56;  Municipal  oligarchies,  59; 
Cities  in  France,  59 ;  Communes,  60 ;  Feudal  cities,  61 ;  The  crown  and  the 
cities,  61. 

IV  THE  CITY  AS  AN  ADMINISTRATIVE  DISTRICT  OP  A  LARGER 

STATE 63 

Mediaeval  city  not  a  city-state,  63 ;  Commercial  basis  of  cities,  64 ;  City 
oligarchies,  64 ;  Early  English  boroughs,  65 ;  Development  of  oligarchical 
government,  67;  Boroughs  and  the  crown,  68;  English  cities  in  1830,  70; 
French  centralization,  71;  Legislation  of  Napoleon,  72;  Centralization  in 
Germany,  73 ;  Centralization  in  Italy,  75 ;  Conclusions,  76. 

V  THE  CITY  AS  AN  ORGAN  FOR  THE  SATISFACTION  OF  LOCAL 

NEEDS      .      .      . 78 

A 

Ami 
82  * 
affairs,  85 ;  Present  functions,  86. 

VI  POSITION  OF  THE  CITY  IN  THE  STATE 88 

Subordinate  position  of  the  city,  88;  Definitions,  89;  Legal  status,  89; 
Special  charters  in  England,  90;  Special  charters  in  the  United  States,  90; 
General  laws,  91 ;  Contents  of  the  charter,  92 ;  Powers  of  cities,  93 ;  Scope 
of  municipal  powers,  94 ;  Legal  liability  of  municipal  corporations,  95 ; 
Municipal  administration  not  business,  96 ;  Political  position  of  the  city,  98 ; 
Development  of  legislative  domination,  98 ;  Special  legislation,  99 ;  General 
laws  and  classification,  100;  Regulated  special  legislation,  102;  Municipal 
home  rule,  103 ;  State  appointment  of  citv  officers,  103 ;  City-made  charters, 
105 ;  Municipal  functions,  105 ;  Future  relation  of  the  city  to  the  state,  106 ; 
Limitations  on  municipal  home  rule,  108;  American  political  parties,  109; 
Party  domination  in  cities,  111;  Position  of  English  cities,  113;  English 
parties  and  city  government,  114 ;  Continental  methods  of  articulation,  115 ; 
Position  of  the  French  city,  115;  Position  of  Prussian  cities,  117;  Cities 
and  political  parties  in  Europe,  118;  Conclusions,  119. 

vii 


viii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAOK 

VII  STATE  CONTROL  OVER  CITIES 121 

Necessity  of  state  control,  121;  Methods  of  control,  122;  Legislative 
control,  122;  Defects  of  legislative  control,  123;  Defects  of  judicial  control, 
125;  Constitutional  limitations  on  legislative  control,  126;  Administrative 
control,  128;  Administrative  control  in  Prussia,  131;  Prussian  cities  as 
agents  of  the  state,  132 ;  Administrative  control  in  France,  134 ;  Admin- 
istrative control  in  England,  135;  Administrative  control  in  the  United 
States,  138;  Comparison  of  administrative  and  legislative  control,  138; 
Effects  of  administrative  control  on  efficiency,  139 ;  Effects  on  poor-law  ad- 
ministration, 142;  Effects  on  public  health  administration,  143;  Effects  on 
police  administration,  144;  Effects  on  school  administration,  145;  Effects  on 
financial  administration,  145 ;  Conclusions  as  to  state  control,  147. 

VIII  THE  PARTICIPATION  OF  THE  PEOPLE  IN  CITY  GOVERN- 

MENT        149 

Control  of  municipal  organization,  149 ;  Municipal  suffrage  a  special 
problem,  151;  Qualifications  for  the  suffrage,  153;  Conclusions  as  to 
municipal  suffrage,  157 ;  Number  of  elective  officers,  159 ;  Trial  of  state  cen- 
tralization, 161;  The  long  ballot,  16.1;  The  short  ballot,  163;  The  recall,  163; 
The  initiative  and  referendum,  164;  Non-partisan  nominations,  170;  The 
direct  primary,  172 ;  The  non-partisan  direct  primary,  173 ;  City  parties, 
174 ;  The  Chicago  Municipal  Voters'  League,  177. 

IX  THE  CITY  COUNCIL 179 

Original  municipal  organization,  179;  The  council  system,  180;  The 
board  system,  182;  Arguments  for  the  council  idea,  187; 'Rise  of  commission 
government,  191;  Criticism  of  commission  government,  192;  Conclusions 
as  to  commission  government,  195;,  The  city  manager,  196;  The  English 
municipal  system,  198;  The  continental  municipal  system,  German  form, 
199;  Franco-Italian  form,  200;  American  municipal  system,  202;  Composi- 
tion of  councils,  203 ;  District  representation,  204 ;  Minority  representation, 
limited  and  cumulative  voting,  205 ;  Proportional  representation,  206 ;  Term 
of  members,  209;  Classes  of  members,  209;  Number  of  members,  210;  Rela- 
tion of  composition  to  self-government,  210;  Qualifications  of  councillors, 
212;  Attitude  of  voters,  212;  Character  of  council  in  England,  213;  Char- 
acter of  council  in  Germany,  216;  Character  of  council  in  the  United 
States,  217;  Character  of  the  council  in  France,  218;  Powers  of  the  council, 
219;  Ordinance  powers,  221;  Power  to  determine  sphere  of  municipal 
activity,  224;  Financial  powers,  226. 

X  THE  CITY  EXECUTIVE  .  230 


237;  Character  of  council  committees,  239;  Germany,  organization  of  the 
administration,  240 ;  Administrative  boards,  241 ;  France  and  Italy,  organ- 
ization of  the  administration,  242 ;  Tenure  of  civil  service,  243 ;  Popular 
control  and  efficiency,  244 ;  United  States,  organization  of  the  civil  service, 
245 ;  Popular  control  and  efficiency,  246 ;  Lower  administrative  service, 
247 ;  Boards  or  single  commissioners,  248 ;  Administration  by  non-political 
boards,  250 ;  Administration  under  commission  government,  252 ;  The  city- 
manager,  254;  City  administrative  districts,  255. 

XI    POLICE  ADMINISTRATION 258 

Definition  of  police,  258 ;  Judicial  police,  English  judicial  organization, 
260 ;  Judicial  police  in  English  cities,  261 ;  Judicial  police  in  the  United 
States,  262 ;  Juvenile  courts,  264 ;  Organization  and  functions  of  municipal 
courts,  265;  Selection  of  city  judges,  267;  Judicial  police  in  France,  269; 
Judicial  police  in  Germany,  270 ;  Two  conceptions  of  administrative  police, 
271;  Practical  results  of  the  two  conceptions,  274;  Development  of  state 
police  forces,  275;  Local  police,  London  system,  278;  Early  American  police 
systems,  280;  Continental  police  systems,  282;  Growth  of  state  control  in 


CONTENTS  ix 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

the  United  States,  283 ;  State  versus  local  police  control,  285 ;  Police  boards 
versus  commissioners,  287;  Selection  and  tenure  of  police  officers,  289;  De- 
fects of  American  police,  290 ;  Police  licenses,  294 ;  Public  health  and  safety, 
294 ;  Health  and  safety  administration  in  England,  295 ;  Health  and  safety 
administration  in  the  United  States,  299 ;  Departments  included,  299 ; 
Central  control  in  the  United  States,  301;  Sanitary  police  powers,  302; 
Sanitary  powers  in  France,  304 ;  Health  law  of  1902,  307 ;  Public  health  and 
safety  m  Germany,  309;  Methods  of  exercise  in  the  United  States,  311; 
Judicial  remedies,  313. 

XII  THE  ADMINISTRATION  OP  CHARITIES  AND  CORRECTION  316 

Early  methods,  316;  Separation  of  charities  from  corrections,  318;  In- 
sane poor,  319;  Legal  right  to  poor  relief,  321;  Poor  relief  in  England,  322; 
Poor  relief  in  Germany,  324 ;  Poor  relief  in  France,  325 ;  Poor  relief  in  Italy, 
327 ;  Municipal  charities  in  the  United  States,  329 ;  Organization  of  city 
poor  authority,  330;  Nature  of  poor  relief,  331;  State  control,  332. 

XIII  EDUCATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION 335 

Early  methods,  335;  Education  in  England,  336;  Education  Act  of 
1902,  338;  Educational  Administration  in  France,  340;  School  administra- 
tion in  Italy,  341;  School  administration  in  Germany,  342;  City  school 
authorities  in  Prussia,  343 ;  State  supervision  of  schools,  345 ;  School  admin- 
istration in  the  United  States,  346;  School  boards,  347;  School  superin- 
tendents, 350;  Administrative  tendencies,  351;  Central  control,  352. 

XIV  LOCAL  IMPROVEMENTS 355 

Character  and  scope  of  local  improvements,  355;  Effect  of  urban  growth 
on  municipal  activities,  356;  Early  public  improvements,  357;  The  city 
plan,  360 ;  Development  under  natural  growth,  360 ;  Development  under  a 
preconceived  plan,  362;  The  street  plan,  363;  Street  plans  in  actual  prac- 
tice, 365;  City  planning  in  Frankfort,  368;  The  ideal  city  plan,  369;  Public 
works,  370;  Public  utilities,  water,  372:  Gas  and  electricity,  374;  Trans- 
portation, 376;  Docks  and  terminals,  377;  Organization  of  public  works 
authorities,  378;  Ad  hoc  authorities,  379;  Public  utilities  end  the  public, 
381 ;  Public  utility  franchises,  382 ;  Elements  of  a  franchise,  383  ;  Duration 
of  franchise,  383;  Utility  rates,  385;  Quality  of  service,  386;  Utility 
finances,  386;  Reversion  of  the  plant,  387;  Regulation  by  commission,  388; 
Growth  of  municipal  ownership,  389 ;  Comparison  of  municipal  and  private 
ownership,  392. 

XV  FINANCIAL  ADMINISTRATION 397 

City  revenues,  397;  Revenues  from  municipal  property,  398;  Powers  of 
city  councils  in  taxation,  400;  Tax-collecting  agencies,  401;  Specific  taxes, 
402 ;  Ad  valorem  taxes ;  Assessment,  402 ;  Special  assessments,  405 ;  Miscel- 
laneous revenues,  406 ;  Municipal  expenditures,  406 ;  Spending  authorities, 
407 ;  The  municipal  budget,  408 ;  Preparation  of  the  budget,  409 ;  The 
budget  as  an  instrument  of  control,  411;  Obstacles  to  an  effective  budget 
system,  412;  Powers  of  city  councils  in  appropriation,  413;  Expenditures 
in  European  cities,  413;  Disbursing  officers,  414;  Municipal  debts:  extent 
and  origin,  416;  Purpose  and  justification  of  municipal  debts,  417; 
Municipal  securities,  418;  Limitation  of  indebtedness,  419;  Municipal 
accounting,  422;  Administrative  control  of  debts  and  accounting,  423. 

XVI  CONCLUSIONS 427 

Cities  subordinate  governments,  427;  Cities  undemocratic,  428;  State 
control,  430;  Form  of  government  suited  to  urban  populations,  431;  Or- 
ganization should  be  simple,  433 ;  Municipal  suffrage,  434 ;  Unpaid  service, 
436;  Need  of  experts,  436;  Civil  service  laws,  437;  Tenure  of  city  officers, 
439;  Municipal  functions,  441. 

INDEX  445 


MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 


MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 


CHAPTER  I 

GROWTH   OF  CITIES 

REFERENCES : 

Beard,  C.  A.,  "American  City  Government,"  Chap.  I.  Howe,  F.  C.,  "The 
Modern  City  and  Its  Problems,"  Chaps.  I  and  IV.  Howe,  F.  C.,  "The  City 
the  Hope  of  Democracy,"  Chap.  II.  Shaw,  A.,  "Municipal  Government  in 
Great  Britain,"  Chap.  I. 

The  City.  There  are  in  all  countries  large  aggregations  of 
persons  within  small  areas  which  are  variously  called  "cities" 
or  ' '  urban  communities. ' '  The  mere  existence  of  these  aggrega- 
tions presents  peculiar  phenomena.  The  questions  may  be  asked : 
How  did  these  aggregations  come  about?  and,  How  are  they 
constituted  ?  that  is,  What  are  the  characteristics  of  urban  popu- 
lations? These  questions  are  of  a  sociological  nature.  When 
one  speaks  of  the  "city"  or  "urban  community"  as  a  mere  aggre- 
gation of  individuals  dwelling  in  close  proximity  the  term  is 
therefore  used  in  a  sociological  sense. 

The  presence  of  these  aggregations,  however,  causes  problems 
to  arise  which  are  not  sociological  in  character.  These  social 
groups  must  have  a  governmental  organization.  Not  only  must 
they  have  such  an  organization,  but,  since  their  problems  are 
peculiar  owing  to  the  density  of  their  population,  that  organiza- 
tion must  be  different  from  that  which  is  accorded  to  rural 
communities.  When,  therefore,  the  "city"  or  "urban  com- 
munity" is  spoken  of  as  a  governmental  organization  the  term 
is  used  in  a  political  rather  than  in  a  sociological  sense.  One 
thinks  then  not  so  much  of  the  reasons  why  aggregations  of  per- 
sons exist  or  of  the  character  of  their  populations,  as  of  the  posi- 
tion which  the  city  occupies  as  an  organ  of  government  and  of 
the  political  powers  which  it  exercises. 

3 


.  QOVERNMENT 

It  has  been  said  'that1  tHe  'political  problems  of  cities  are  pecul- 
iar. This  is  due  not  only  to  the  density  but  as  well  to  the 
character  of  urban  populations.  Therefore,  although  attention 
will  for  the  most  part  be  directed  to  the  city  as  an  organ  of 
government  rather  than  as  a  social  fact,  it  will  be  necessary  to 
consider  briefly  why  cities  have  come  into  existence  and  to 
understand  those  characteristics  of  urban  populations  which  can 
fairly  be  regarded  as  having  an  influence  on  the  governmental 
and  political  problems  of  cities.  Only  in  this  way  is  it  possible 
to  reach  conclusions  of  any  value  as  to  the  solution  of  the 
political  problems  of  modern  cities. 

Extent  of  Urban  Growth.  A  study  of  city  characteristics  and 
the  determination  of  the  form  of  government  best  suited  to 
their  needs  assumes  greater  importance  from  the  fact  that  the 
densely  populated  areas  are  increasing  in  size  and  number.  One 
of  the  observations  most  commonly  made  at  the  present  time 
concerning  the  civilization  which  owes  its  origin  to  western 
Europe  is  that  the  cities  are  increasing  in  the  number  of  in- 
habitants faster  than  are  the  rural  districts.  From  1900  to  1910 
the  urban  population  increased  more  than  30  per  cent  while 
the  rural  population  increased  only  a  little  more  than  11  per 
cent.  The  result  is  that  an  increasingly  large  proportion  of 
the  total  population  is  living  an  urban  life.1  There  is  also  a 
distinct  tendency  for  the  larger  cities,  as  for  example  the  cities 
of  100,000  and  over,  to  attract  a  larger  and  larger  proportion 
of  the  population.2 

1  The  extent  of  the  relative  increase  of  population  in  the  urban   and 
rural  districts  of  the  United  States  is  indicated  in  the  following  table: — 
Population  1910  1900  1890  1880 

Urban     42,623,383         30,797,185         22,720,223         14,772,438 

Rural      49,348,883         45,197,390         40,227,491         35,383,345 

Per  cent  of  Total  Population 

Urban     46.3  40.5  36.1  29.5 

Rural    53.7  59.5  63.9  70.5 

The  urban  population  is  taken  to  include  the  inhabitants  of  places  of 
over  2,500  population. 

2  The  percentages  of  population  living  in  places  of  specified  sizes  are 
shown  in  the  following  tables: — 

Percentage   of   total   population.  1910       1900       1890        1880 

Cities  of  25,000  or  more   31.0         26.0         22.3         17.2 


GROWTH  OF  CITIES  5 

What  is  true  of  the  United  States  seems  to  be  true  as  well 
of  all  the  states  of  western  Europe.  In  England  and  Wales 
the  total  urban  population,  defining  that  term  as  the  population 
residing  in  places  of  three  thousand  inhabitants  and  over,  in- 
creased between  1901  and  1911  11.2  per  cent,  while  the  rural 
population  increased  9.9  per  cent.3  Between  1881  and  1891  the 
increase  was  15.4  and  3  per  cent  respectively.4  In  France  the 
urban  population,  defining  the  term  as  the  population  dwelling 
in  communes  of  two  thousand  or  more  inhabitants,  increased 
in  the  period  1901-1911,  15.9  per  cent,  while  during  the  same 
period  the  rural  population  actually  decreased  3.9  per  cent.5 
In  Prussia  the  urban  population,  i.e.,  the  population  living  in 
places  of  two  thousand  and  over,  was,  in  1900,  55.5  per  cent  of 
the  whole  population;  in  1910  it  was  61.5  per  cent.  In  the 
whole  of  the  German  Empire  the  proportion  of  the  population 
living  in  towns  of  5000  population  was  in  1880,  28.6  per  cent; 
in  1890,  35  per  cent;  in  1900,  42.3  per  cent,  and  in  1910,  48.8 
per  cent.6  In  Belgium,  in  1846,  the  cities  of  100,000  and  over 
had  6.8  per  cent  of  the  population  of  the  country  and  in  1910, 
17.6  per  cent.  Between  1900  and  1910  the  total  population 
of  Belgium  increased  18.3  per  cent,  the  cities  of  100,000  and 
over,  10.2  per  cent  and  all  over  25,000,  6.5  per  cent.7  Statistics 
from  Austria,  Italy  and  Spain  confirm,  the  conclusion  that 
throughout  western  Europe  the  rate  of  urban  increase  is  rapid 
and  exceeds  that  in  the  rural  districts. 

Cities  of  100,000  or  more   22.1  18.7  15.4  12.4 

Cities  of  250,000  or  more  16.8  14.4  11.0  8.8; 

Cities  of  500,000  or  more   12.5  10.6  7.1  6.2 

Cities  of  1,000,000  or  more 9.2  8.5  5.8  2.4 

Percentage  of  urban  population.  1910  1900  1890  1880 

Cities  of  2,500-25,000   33.0  35.9  38.3  41.5 

Cities  of  25,000-100,000   19.3  18.0  19.0  16.2 

Cities  of  100,000  to  1,000,000 27.7  25.3  26.6  34.1 

Cities  of  1,000,000  and  over   19.9  20.9  16.1  8.2 

s  "Statesman's  Yearbook." 

4  Ibid. 

5  "Statesman's  Yearbook." 

6  Ibid. 


6  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

In  Australia  where  European  civilization  has  been  trans- 
planted the  same  tendencies  are  to  be  found.  In  New  South 
Wales  the  cities  of  10,000  inhabitants  contained  in  1851,  28.2 
per  cent;  in  1891,  33.6  per  cent,  and  in  1911,  45.8  per  cent  of 
the  population.  In  Victoria  the  same  class  of  cities  had  in 
1851,  30  per  cent;  in  1891,  46.1  per  cent,  and  in  1911,  53.4 
per  cent  of  the  entire  population.8 

In  countries  not  possessing  western  European  civilization 
the  same  conditions  are  not  found.  Thus  the  urban  districts 
in  Russia  proper  contained  at  the  close  of  the  last  century  only 
12.5  per  cent  of  the  population ;  in  British  India,  only  9.22  per 
cent;  while  in  Bengal,  only  4.82  per  cent  of  the  population  of 
over  seventy  million  persons  are  to  be  found  in  the  urban  dis- 
tricts.9 In  China,  however,  it  is  estimated  that  the  fifty-two 
cities  above  one  hundred  thousand  have  22  per  cent  of  the 
population.10 

Growth  of  Cities  a  Recent  Phenomenon.  Not  only  does  a 
study  of  the  census  statistics  of  various  countries  show  a  dis- 
proportionally  rapid  growth  of  urban  populations  as  compared 
with  rural,  but  it  also  appears  that  this  excessive  growth  is  a 
phenomenon  of  comparatively  recent  times.  On  account  of  the 
many  disturbing  factors  which  enter  in  a  comparatively  new 
country  like  the  United  States,  the  statistics  on  this  subject 
are  not  very  informing,  but  when  European  countries  are  con- 
sidered, some  very  significant  figures  appear  with  respect  to 
urban  growth. 

It  is  seen  that  the  period  1821-1851  was  in  England  a  period 
of  concentration,  and  in  this  period  the  decades,  1821-1831,  and 
1841-1851,  are  especially  marked.  In  the  first,  the  rate  of  in- 
crease of  most  of  the  English  cities  was  most  remarkable,  some  of 
them  increasing  at  a  rate  of  60  per  cent  and  over.  This  was  a 
period  of  great  industrial  activity,  the  number  of  pounds  of  cot- 
ton imported  having  increased  from  51,000,000  pounds  in  1813, 
to  287,800,000,  in  1832,  and  489,900,000,  in  1841.  It  was  also 

s  Weber,  "Growth  of  Cities,"  p.  140;  "Statesman's  Yearbook." 
a  Weber,  "Growth  of  Cities,"  p.  124. 
10  Ibid.,  p.  129. 


GROWTH  OF  CITIES  7 

during  this  period  that  railroads  were  first  built.  The  first 
railway  was  built  in  1830 ;  by  1840,  there  were  800,  and  in  1850, 
6,600  miles  of  railway.11  In  France  the  urban  development 
began  somewhat  later  than  in  England.  The  year  1831  may  be 
taken  as  the  beginning ;  in  1851,  urban  population  had  increased 
greatly  and  continued  to  increase  until  1871,  when  it  fell  off 
considerably.  This  increase  is,  as  in  England,  coincident  with 
the  industrial  revolution,  which  began  in  France  shortly  after 
the  political  revolution  of  1830.12 

In  Germany  the  concentration  of  population  in  cities  was 
not  noticed  until  after  1852,  and  is  particularly  marked  after 
1880.13  The  changes  in  the  industrial  system,  which  seem  to 
have  been  followed  by  an  increase  in  the  urban  population,  did 
not  take  place  in  Germany  until  after  1840.  Even  as  late  as 
1850,  only  5,856  kilometers  of  railway  line  had  been  built.  By 
1848,  however,  the  industrial  revolution  was  completed.  The 
successful  termination  of  the  French  war  in  1871  made  the 
political  union  of  Germany  possible,  and  was  followed  by  great 
commercial  and  industrial  expansion. 

It  may  be  said,  then,  that  urban  development  is  a  character- 
istic of  modern  western  civilization,  and,  in  the  form  in  which 
we  find  it  at  the  present  time,  a  comparatively  modern  phe- 
nomenon. The  problems  incident  to  it  are  thus  new  rather  than 
old.  Certainly  their  solution  makes  more  insistent  demands  than 
ever  before,  since  never  before  in  the  history  of  western  civiliza- 
tion did  such  a  large  proportion  of  the  people  live  in  urban 
communities  as  at  the  present  time. 

Sources  of  Increase  in  Population.  If  attention  is  directed  to 
the  methods  by  which  the  aggregations  of  population  which  we 
call  cities  are  brought  together,  it  will  be  discovered  that  these 
groups  are  recruited  either  internally  or  externally ; — internally, 
by  persons  born  and  reared  within  the  city ;  externally,  by  those 
who  have  migrated  from  outside.  While  it  is  true  that  every 
city  owes  its  population  at  any  given  time  to  both  methods  of 

11  Weber,  "Growth  of  Cities,"  p.  52. 
i2/&td.,  pp.  76-77. 
.,  pp.  83,  89. 


8  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

increase,  it  is  also  true  that  the  proportion  derived  from  each 
varies  widely  with  time  and  attendant  circumstances. 

Now  while  the  method  of  internal  recruiting  should  not  be 
overlooked,  it  has  had  in  the  past  a  comparatively  unimportant 
influence  upon  the  growth  of  cities.  The  number  of  internal 
recruits  to  the  city  population  depends  to  a  considerable  degree 
upon  the  sanitary  condition  of  the  city.  If  these  conditions  are 
bad  the  death  rate  becomes  higher  than  the  birth  rate.  The 
same  result  occurs  when  devastating  wars  take  place  in  frequent 
succession.  In  the  centuries  preceding  the  nineteenth  the  sani- 
tary and  other  conditions  affecting  the  production  and  con- 
servation of  human  life  were  of  such  a  character  in  the  densely 
populated  areas  of  the  European  world  that  the  death  rate  was 
greater  than  the  birth  rate.  It  is  said  that  in  London  in  the 
forty  years  from  1603  to  1644  there  were  363,935  burials  and 
330,747  christenings.14  "A  German  student  who  investigated 
the  church  records  of  baptisms  and  burials  in  several  German 
cities  came  to  the  conclusion  that  on  the  average  there  were 
eighty  or  ninety  births  to  one  hundred  deaths  in  the  period  from 
1550  to  1750."  15  The  result  has  been  that,  had  it  not  been  for 
migration  from  the  outlying  districts  into  the  cities,  the  city 
population  would  have  decreased  even  to  the  point,  sometimes, 
of  threatening  the  existence  of  the  city. 

The  improvement  in  the  sanitary  condition  of  cities  in  the 
nineteenth  century  due  to  the  discoveries  of  medical  science 
applied  by  a  more  efficient  municipal  government  have,  however, 
brought  it  about  that  many  cities  have  at  the  present  time  a 
higher  birth  than  death  rate.  Indeed,  Dr.  Weber  states  that 
while  in  France  and  Italy  the  cities  do  not  generally  sustain 
themselves,  ''in  Germany,  Sweden,  Austria-Hungary,  etc.,  the 
cities  furnish  from  one  fourth  to  one  half  of  their  increase, 
according  to  size.  But  in  Great  Britain  immigration  has  so  di- 
minished that  even  the  largest  cities  provide  three-quarters  and 
even  more  of  their  increase.  In  the  United  States  where  the 
cities  now  show  a  larger  natural  increase  than  do  the  rural  dis- 

i*  Weber,  "Growth  of  Cities,"  p.  232. 
is  Ibid.,  p.  234. 


tricts,  there  is  still  a  vast  immigration,  four  or  five  times  as  large 
as  the  natural  increase. ' ' 1C 

Before  turning  to  a  consideration  of  the  specific  causes  of 
urban  growth,  some  general  facts  and  conditions  which  affect 
the  problem  in  a  general  way  may  be  reviewed. 

Density  of  Population  not  a  Cause  of  Growth.  In  seeking 
causes  of  urban  growth  it  may  be  well  at  first  to  make  it  clear 
that  mere  density  of  population  is  not  a  cause.  This  is  illus- 
trated by  the  fact  that  Bengal  with  a  large  population  has  a 
low  percentage,  while  Australia,  with  a  sparse  population,  has 
a  high  percentage  of  urban  population.  In  the  case  of  Bengal, 
the  occupation  of  the  people  is  in  the  main  agricultural,  and 
the  character  of  the  agricultural  system  is  very  primitive ;  great 
reliance  is  placed  on  manual  labor,  almost  none  on  machinery. 
The  result  is  that,  notwithstanding  the  fertility  of  the  soil, 
the  agricultural  labor  of  most  of  the  people  is  required  in  order 
to  sustain  the  population.  None,  roughly  speaking,  can  be 
spared  for  occupations  not  of  an  agricultural  nature.  In  other 
words,  the  rural  districts  demand  for  their  cultivation,  under 
existing  methods  and  conditions,  the  services  of  practically  the 
whole  population. 

When,  however,  one  turns  to  Australia,  how  different  are 
the  conditions!  The  land  is  very  commonly  not  adapted  to 
distinctly  agricultural  pursuits.  It  is  either  so  arid  as  to  make 
them  impossible,  or  it  is  so  far  away  from  the  market  in  which 
agricultural  products  can  be  sold  as  to  make  the  raising  of 
distinctly  agricultural  products  unprofitable.  It  is,  however, 
wonderfully  adapted  to  the  raising  of  cattle,  sheep,  and  horses, 
and  markets  are  readily  obtained  for  live  stock  and  wool.  The 
natural  result  is  that  the  country  is  devoted  to  pastoral  rather 
than  agricultural  pursuits.  Comparatively  few  people  are  re- 
quired to  devote  themselves  to  the  distinctly  rural  occupations 
suitable  to  the  country,  i.e.,  to  the  direct  raising  of  wool  and  live 
stock,  and  a  considerable  number  of  people  devote  themselves  to 
occupations  largely  commercial  in  character,  which  are  necessary 
in  order  to  market  the  products  raised.  The  result  is  that  in 

is  Ibid.,  p.  246. 


10  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

Australia  large  urban  communities  have  sprung  up  as  the  homes 
of  those  who  devote  themselves  to  the  commercial  occupations 
made  necessary  by  the  pastoral  character  of  Australian  economic 
conditions.  This  result  is  reached  although  industry  has  been 
developed  scarcely  at  all  in  that  country. 

Divorce  from  the  Soil  Necessary.  From  what  has  just  been 
said  it  appears,  then,  that  urban  communities  are  possible  only 
where  economic  conditions  are  such  that  a  portion,  at  least,  of 
the  people  living  in  the  country  can  obtain  their  livelihood  from 
some  occupation  not  immediately  connected  with  the  soil.  As 
it  has  been  put,  cities  are  possible  only  where  at  least  a  portion 
of  the  inhabitants  are  divorced  from  the  soil.17 

"When  trade  is  bounded  by  arbitrary  political  lines,  or  is  local 
rather  than  general  in  character,  it  may  be  said  further,  that 
cities  are  possible  only  where  there  is  a  back  country  tributary 
from  a  political  point  of  view  either  to  the  city  itself  or  to  the 
larger  state  of  which  the  city  is  a  part.  In  the  first  case  there 
is  usually  found  the  form  known  as  the  city-state,  of  which 
Venice  was  once  a  good  example,  while  in  the  second  is  found 
some  form  of  a  national  state,  such  as  Rome  after  she  had  ex- 
tended her  influence  Over  Italy,  and  the  modern  states  of  western 
Europe. 

Where,  however,  a  world  trade  has  been  developed  it  may 
well  be  that  a  whole  country  may  become  urban  in  character. 
In  such  a  country  we  may  find  cities  of  great  size  with  no 
hinterland  tributary  to  them,  all  devoted  to  commercial  or 
industrial  occupations.  Such  a  country  may  not  contain  suffi- 
cient land  under  cultivation  to  sustain  its  population  or  to 
give  it  raw  materials  in  sufficient  quantities  to  keep  its  indus- 
tries alive,  but  may  be  obliged  to  import  both  agricultural  prod- 
ucts and  raw  materials  from  distant  points  beyond  its  boundaries. 

Such  is  the  condition  of  England  and  Wales,  whose  urban 
population  is  77  per  cent  of  their  entire  population.  England 
imports  most  of  her  food  stuffs  from  the  United  States  and 
Australasia,  her  cotton  in  large  degree  from  the  United  States, 
and  her  iron  from  Spain.  She  is,  thus,  able  to  support  an 

IT  Weber,  "Growth  of  Cities,"  p.  16. 


11 

enormous  urban  population,  although  she  does  not  produce 
enough  food  or  raw  materials  in  her  own  boundaries  for  the 
needs  of  even  a  comparatively  small  part  of  her  people.  From 
a  political  point  of  view,  her  position  may  be  a  precarious  one, 
but  from  an  economic  point  of  view  it  is  doubtful  whether  she 
is  at  a  great  disadvantage  with  the  United  States  where  the 
Lake  Superior  iron  ores  and  the  western  wheat  fields  are  far 
distant  from  the  industrial  centers,  although  they  are  within 
the  political  boundaries  of  the  United  States. 

It  may  be  said,  then,  that  urban  communities  are  possible  and 
only  possible  where  economic  conditions  permit  a  portion  of  the 
inhabitants,  whatever  may  be  the  density  of  the  population,  to 
obtain  their  living  out  of  an  occupation  not  immediately  con- 
nected with  the  soil. 

The  divorce  of  men  from  the  soil  is  only  possible,  however, 
when  agricultural  methods  are  so  highly  developed  that  the 
work  of  a  part  of  the  community  will  yield  products  sufficient 
to  support  the  whole  community,  or  when  new  and  more  fertile 
lands,  from  which  food  and  raw  materials  can  be  obtained,  are 
subjected  to  cultivation. 

Until  such  conditions  obtain  industry  and  commerce  cannot 
develop  to  the  extent  of  making  possible  the  existence  of  the 
large  industrial  and  commercial  classes  out  of  which  urban 
communities  are  formed. 

Agricultural  Improvement  and  City  Growth.  When  the  con- 
ditions above  described  arise,  and  when  the  state  of  commerce 
and  industry  becomes  such  that  better  wages  and  more  attractive 
living  conditions  are  offered  in  those  occupations  than  prevail 
in  agriculture,  the  separation  from  the  soil  will  take  place. 
This  is  actually  what  occurred  in  England  toward  the  close  of 
the  eighteenth  century. 

The  invention  of  the  spinning  jenny  and  the  improvements 
in  the  loom  made  spinning  and  weaving  more  profitable  than 
working  in  the  fields.  The  consequent  scarcity  of  agricultural 
labor  and  the  reduction  in  the  quantity  of  farm  products  pro- 
duced tended  to  raise  the  price  of  food  stuffs  so  as  to  offset  the 
apparent  advantage  in  increased  wages.  Under  these  circum- 
stances the  increased  demand  for  agricultural  products  inspired 


12  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

great  improvements  in  farm  methods.  Common  lands  were  en- 
closed and  their  cultivation  was  much  more  intensive  than  had 
been  true  before.  The  yield  of  wheat  per  acre  went  up  from 
seventeen  to  twenty-six  bushels  per  acre.  Scientific  stock  breed- 
ing followed.  Beeves  weighed  at  the  Smithfield  market,  370 
pounds  in  1710,  800  pounds  in  1795.18 

These  improvements  in  their  turn  rendered  unnecessary  the 
labor  of  as  many  agricultural  laborers  as  formerly  and  made  it 
possible  for  a  larger  portion  of  the  community  than  formerly  to 
devote  themselves  to  the  new  industrial  undertakings  which 
sprang  up  soon  after.  In  1770,  42  per  cent  of  the  people  were 
devoted  to  agricultural  pursuits;  in  1841,  22  per  cent.  Ulti- 
mately both  occupation  was  found  for  the  surplus  population 
that  had  formerly  been  agricultural  in  character  and  induce- 
ment was  offered  to  the  agriculturist  further  to  improve  agri- 
cultural methods  to  offset  the  higher  wages  paid  the  agricultural 
laborer  than  would  have  been  paid,  were  it  not  for  the  competi- 
tion of  the  factories  formed  as  a  result  of  the  great  industrial 
revolution,  which  began  in  the  last  years  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury. 

In  spite  of  the  general  principle  that  in  new  countries  the 
larger  proportion  of  the  population  is  normally  found  engaged 
in  agriculture,  in  some  countries,  notably  in  the  United  States, 
the  urban  population  is  relatively  large.  This  is  apparently 
due,  in  part  at  least,  to  the  unusually  prosperous  condition  of 
agriculture  arising  from  efficient  methods,  and  in  part  to  the 
fact  that  in  older  countries  there  remains  on  the  soil  an  old 
agricultural  population  which  has  not  yet  adjusted  itself  to 
new  economic  conditions  by  merging  with  the  new  industrial 
population.  In  the  newer  country  this  older  rural  population 
has  never  existed. 

The  rural  population  in  the  United  States  is  relatively  large 
in  spite  of  the  efficiency  of  its  agricultural  methods  because 
the  country  is  so  largely  engaged  in  producing  for  export. 
The  urban  population  is,  however,  increasing  at  a  rapid  rate 
and  by  the  time  that  the  country  will  have  ceased  to  export 

is  Weber,  "Growth  of  Cities,"  p.  165. 


GROWTH  OF  CITIES  13 

raw  materials,  the  urban  will  probably  outnumber  the  rural 
population.  In  Australia  the  unusual  proportion  of  urban  popu- 
lation will  probably  continue  until  a  different  type  of  agricul- 
ture becomes  possible. 

•It  may  be  concluded,  then,  that  under  the  economic  condi- 
tions of  modern  times  a  larger  urban  than  rural  population  is 
by  no  means  an  abnormal  or  temporary  phenomenon,  but  on  the 
contrary,  is  in  new  countries  as  much  as,  if  not  even  more  than 
in  old,  a  normal  and  permanent  phenomenon.  If  this  is  the 
case  it  is  somewhat  difficult  to  see  how  any  schemes  which  may 
be  adopted  for  getting  the  people  back  to  the  farms  will  have 
any  great  success.  Improvement  in  rural  conditions  may  con- 
ceivably result  in  a  proportionally  larger  rural  population  than 
now  exists,  but  such  increase  will  not  be  great.  Unless  there 
is  a  corresponding  broadening  of  markets  such  increase  will 
make  more  keen  the  competition  for  those  which  already  exist. 

Wider  markets  for  agricultural  products  are  a  necessary  pre- 
requisite for  a  greater  rural  population,  and  wider  markets  for 
the  agricultural  products  of  a  given  country  can  be  secured  only 
through  the  growth  of  cities,  the  underselling  of  less  favored 
agricultural  districts,  or  the  increase  in  consumption  by  existing 
populations  made  possible  by  lower  prices.  So  far  as  this  last 
contingency  may  occur  the  existence  of  a  larger  rural  popula- 
tion as  compared  with  the  urban  population  is  conceivable. 

Motives  for  City  Forming.  Thus  far  attention  has  been  di- 
rected merely  to  general  considerations  affecting  the  trend  of 
population  toward  the  cities.  If  one  would  know  the  character 
and  surroundings  of  city  populations  upon  which  their  needs 
and  aspirations  are  conditioned,  the  question  must  be  asked: 
Why  do  large  populations  gather  in  particular  spots? 

Whatever  the  motives  which  lead  people  to  congregate  in 
cities,  the  population  must  not  only  come  together  but  stay 
together.  That  is,  the  motive  must  be  reasonably  permanent  inc 
character,  rather  than  a  merely  evanescent  one.  Large  numbers 
of  people  will  be  attracted  to  newly  discovered  sources  of  mineral 
wealth,  but  they  will  not  remain  unless  that  mineral  wealth  is 
of  such  a  character  that  a  reasonably  long  time  will  elapse  before 
it  is  extracted  from  the  earth.  Thus,  in  many  parts  of  Pennsyl- 


14  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

vania  may  be  found  the  ruins  of  villages  which  were  formed 
because  of  the  discovery  of  oil  wells,  but  which  fell  into  decay 
when  the  wells  ceased  to  flow.  If,  however,  the  aggregation 
continues  long  enough,  other  forces  than  those  which  were  origi- 
nally responsible  for  the  establishment  of  the  urban  community 
may  come  into  play,  and  cause  not  only  the  continuation  of  the 
community,  but  its  further  growth.  Thus,  Oil  City,  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, notwithstanding  oil  wells  may  no  longer  exist  there  of 
sufficient  magnitude  to  attract  a  large  population,  has  continued 
in  existence  because  it  is  suitably  situated  for  the  carrying  on 
of  occupations  other  than  the  extraction  of  oil. 

The  motives  which  lead  people  to  gather  together  may  be 
classified  as  defensive,  religious,  political,  educational,  commer-« 
cial  and  industrial.  Cities  are  formed  because  large  numbers  of 
persons  are  drawn  to  particular  places  from  one  or  more  of  these 
reasons.  It  will  be  found  that  in  many  instances  cities  have 
come  into  being  from  a  single  one  of  the  above  mentionedi  mo- 
tives. When  colonizing  nations  establish  themselves  in  the  midst 
of  uncivilized  peoples,  soldiers  and  colonists  gather  in  or  about 
fortified  posts  for  defensive  purposes.  Thus  began  the  cities  of 
Quebec  and  Pittsburg,  as  did  many  of  the  older  towns  in  the 
original  American  colonies.  In  the  south  of  India  there  is  a 
temple  near  the  city  of  Trichinopoly,  in  and  about  which  it  is 
said  as  many  as  thirty  thousand  persons  are  gathered.  Lourdes 
in  the  south  of  France  is  another  example  of  a  city  formed 
because  of  religious,  or  at  least  quasi-religious,  reasons.  Again, 
our  own  capital  city  of  Washington  is  an  example  of  an  urban 
community  established  solely  for  political  reasons.  In  Oxford, 
England,  is  found  a  community  which  could  with  difficulty  re- 
main in  existence,  were  the  university  around  which  it  has 
grown  up  removed  from  its  midst. 

From  whatever  motive  cities  may  have  been  formed,  their 
growth  is,  as  a  usual  thing,  due  to  a  variety  of  motives  working 
together.  Around  forts  or  castles,  where  people  gathered  for 
safety,  as  well  as  about  temples  and  shrines  set  up  for  religious 
worship,  trade  springs  up  which  thrives  on  the  needs  existing 
or  excited  in  the  people  who  may  come  together  primarily  from 


GROWTH  OF  CITIES  15 

defensive  or  religious  motives.  Ultimately  the  population  gath- 
ered for  commercial  or  industrial  pursuits  may  outnumber  those 
who  are  drawn  thither  for  the  earlier  purpose,  or  entirely 
supersede  them. 

In  a  world  in  which  the  greater  part  of  mankind  must  earn 
their  bread  by  the  sweat  of  their  brow,  economic  motives  must 
be  recognized  as,  by  and  large,  the  controlling  motives  of  human 
action.  While  many  cities  have  thus  been  founded  for  other 
than  economic  reasons,  by  far  the  greater  number  of  cities 
have  either  been  established,  or  are  able  to  continue  their  ex- 
istence and  develop  because  of  their  favorable  situation  for  the 
purposes  of  trade  and  industry.  Indeed,  it  is  not  infrequently 
the  case  that  places  so  favorably  situated  are  chosen  by  priests 
and  educators  as  places  from  which  religious  and  cultural  in- 
fluences will  be  most  liable  to  emanate.  This  being  the  case, 
a  large  part  of  our  time  must  be  devoted  to  a  consideration  of 
the  ways  in  which  trade  and  industry  influence  both  the  estab- 
lishment of  cities  and  the  character  of  the  urban  population 
which  their  pursuit  attracts. 

Trade  as  a  Motive  for  City  Forming.  While  trade  and  indus- 
try may  be  said  to  be  the  two  most  important  causes  of  urban 
development,  at  the  same  time  it  must  be  recognized  that  no  very 
great  development  of  industry  is  possible  without  the  possibility 
of  trade.  Without  trade,  industry  is  dependent  entirely  upon 
the  demands  of  the  local  market.  Where  trade  exists  which 
opens  up  more  than  merely  local  markets  great  industrial  ex- 
pansion is  possible.  Trade  is  practically  impossible  without 
transportation,  which  is  in  its  turn  impossible  without  means  of 
communication.  These  in  their  turn  are  impossible  where  rea- 
sonably stable  government  with  its  accompanying  peace  does 
not  exist.  We  must,  therefore,  assume  that  before  cities  de- 
pendent on  trade  can  exist,  man  must  have  reached  a  stage  in 
his  development  when  war  is  not  the  normal  condition,  and  when 
government  has  attained  some  degree  of  effectiveness.  City 
populations  of  any  considerable  size  are  therefore  indicative  of 
a  reasonable  degree  of  civilization  and  political  capacity. 

Trade  being  thus  dependent  on  transportation,  we  find  that 


16  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

trade  centers  are  closely  connected  with  transportation  routes. 
Such  transportation  routes  are  of  two  kinds,  either  water  or  land 
routes.  From  another  point  of  view  trade  routes  may  be  spoken 
of  as  natural  or  artificial;  and  while  it  is  possible  for  trade 
routes  by  water  to  be  influenced  greatly  by  human  activity, 
as  by  the  building  of  canals,  of  which  the  Suez  Canal  is  the 
most  famous  example,  at  the  same  time  the  hand  of  man  is  much 
more  apparent  when  we  come  to  consider  trade  routes  by  land. 
Human  activity  is  seen  on  the  land  in  the  construction  of  water- 
ways not  directly  connecting  great  bodies  of  water  and  in  the 
construction  of  ways  not  dependent  on  water.  Channels 
of  rivers  are  deepened.  Canals  which  connect  rivers  are  con- 
structed. Roads  and  bridges  are  built  and  tunnels  bored  through 
mountain  ranges. 

Influence  of  Breaks  in  Trade  Routes.  Now  a  main  effect  of 
the  hand  of  man  in  connection  with  transportation  is  seen  in 
the  attempt  to  do  away  with  breaks  in  those  routes  due  to  a 
change  in  the  mode  of  transport.  In  rather  primitive  commer- 
cial conditions  such  changes  in  methods  of  transport  are  very 
common.  In  the  first  place  a  trade  route  may  be  said  to  be 
broken  at  the  shore  of  a  large  body  of  water.  Water  routes 
must  give  place  to  land  routes.  Again,  in  primitive  commercial 
conditions  the  highway  must  give  place  to  the  bridle  path,  when 
mountain  ranges  are  to  be  crossed.  The  camel  must  take  the 
place  of  the  horse  as  a  beast  of  burden  when  deserts  are  to  be 
traversed.  Great  rivers  which  the  engineering  ability  of  the 
time  cannot  bridge  cause  other  breaks.  Finally,  just  as  on  land 
the  wagon  is  replaced  by  the  pack  horse  or  the  camel,  so  where 
the  river  or  other  inland  waterway  meets  the  ocean  the  vessel 
of  lighter  draft  must  be  replaced  by  the  ocean-going  vessel. 
Every  time  a  break  in  transportation  takes  place  a  great  deal 
.  of  subordinate  but  necessary  work  is  involved  which  demands 
the  services  of  many  men,  and  the  tendency  is  for  people  to 
congregate  at  the  points  at  which  breaks  occur.  The  influence 
of  man  in  his  attempts  to  avoid  breaks  in  trade  routes  and  the 
labor  as  well  as  the  delay  caused  thereby  is  apparent  when  one 
considers  the  history  of  the  commerce  of  Europe  with  the  East. 
The  most  ancient  trade  route  in  history  was  that  from  the  coast 


GROWTH  OF  CITIES  17 

of  Asia  Minor  to  the  Euphrates  and  Tigris  rivers.19  At  the 
commencement  and  termination  of  this  route,  where  further 
transportation  was  interrupted  by  the  necessary  change  of 
vehicle,  arose  Tyre  and  Sidon  on  the  Mediterranean  and  Babylon 
on  the  Tigris,  the  greatest  cities  of  the  ancient  world.  Later 
on,  when  the  means  of  navigation  were  improved,  it  was  found 
that  a  nearly  all-water  route  with  the  most  profitable  part  of 
the  East  could  be  secured  by  making  the  short  land  journey 
from  the  Nile  to  the  Red  Sea.  Alexandria  sprang  up  where 
the  ships  of  the  Mediterranean  had  to  unload.  Later,  when 
trade  routes  were  extended  toward  western  and  northern  Europe, 
Venice  and  Genoa  became  points  of  transhipment  from  the  Medi- 
terranean voyage  and  secured  control  of  the  Eastern  trade. 

When  in  the  fifteenth  century  it  was  found  that  an  all-water 
route  existed  around  the  continent  of  Africa  and,  on  account 
of  the  further  improvement  in  navigation,  could  be  used,  Venice 
and  Genoa  declined  in  importance,  and  Lisbon,  the  capital  of 
the  country  whose  adventurous  sailors  first  proved  that  such 
an  all-water  route  was  practicable,  took  the  place  of  both  Alex- 
andria on  the  one  hand  and  Venice  and  Genoa  on  the  other. 
The  break  at  Alexandria  made  it  impossible  for  the  old  route 
to  maintain  itself,  notwithstanding  the  alliance  of  the  Vene- 
tians and  the  Egyptians,  who  attempted  by  force  to  prevent 
the  Portuguese  from  taking  advantage  of  their  discovery. 
Finally,  in  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  long- 
thought-of  plan  of  cutting  the  Isthmus  of  Suez  was  realized 
and  again  the  Mediterranean  cities  began  to  prosper,  particularly 
Marseilles,  Genoa  and  Naples.  In  the  meantime,  however, 
naval  engineering  had  so  progressed  that  vessels  of  greater  size 
could  be  used  and  we  find  the  cities  of  northern  Europe,  such  as 
Bremen  and  Hamburg  and  Antwerp,  sharing  in  the  trade  with 
the  East.  In  almost  all  these  cases  the  prosperity  of  urban 
communities  is  seen  to  depend  on  the  fact  that  breaks  in  the 
trade  route  were  unavoidable  at  or  about  the  place  where  they 
were  situated. 

i»  On  the  ancient  trade  routes  between  Europe  and  the  East,  see  Hunter, 
"History  of  British  India,"  Vol.  I,  chap.  1. 


18  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

Another  instance  in  modern  times  where  the  importance  of 
a  situation  at  a  break  in  the  trade  route  was  most  keenly  ap- 
preciated is  seen  in  the  relations  between  the  English  cities  of 
Liverpool  and  Manchester.  Liverpool  was  established  at  a 
place  where  a  break  in  a  trade  route  was,  under  existing  con- 
ditions, unavoidable.  Manchester,  only  a  few  miles  away,  did 
not  have  this  advantage  but  determined  to  secure  it  by  arti- 
ficial means.  Notwithstanding  the  opposition  of  Liverpool,  Man- 
chester obtained  an  act  of  Parliament  permitting  the  building 
of  the  Manchester  Ship  Canal  through  the  construction  of  which 
Manchester  hoped  to  secure  a  situation  at  a  place  where  the 
trade  route  would  be  broken.  Manchester  succeeded,  but  in  the 
meantime  ocean-going  vessels  were  so  increased  in  size  as  not 
to  be  able  to  use  the  canal  and  thus  Liverpool  has  been  able  to 
retain  at  least  a  portion  of  the  trade.20 

What  has  been  shown  to  be  true  of  natural  water  routes  of 
trade  is  just  as  true  of  the  more  artificial  land  routes.  The 
tendency  is  by  an  improvement  in  the  routes  to  overcome  the 
obstacles  offered  to  trade  by  nature.  This  results,  as  in  the  all- 
water  routes,  in  the  diminution  of  the  number  of  breaks  in  the 
route.  A  most  marked  instance  of  this  tendency  is  to  be  seen 
in  the  case  of  the  substitution,  for  other  means  of  communication 
by  land,  of  railways,  which  pierce  mountain  ranges  and  cross 
rivers. 

The  result,  therefore,  of  the  substitution  of  the  more  modern 
means  of  communication  by  both  water  and  land  is,  if  no  other 
influences  come  into  play,  by  diminishing  the  number  of  breaks 
in  trade  routes  to  take  away  from  many  cities  one  at  least  of 
their  raisons  d'etre  and  to  concentrate  population  in  the  larger 
cities.  World  trade  and  long  trade  routes  make  great  cities  and 
the  more  a  city's  trade  takes  on  the  character  of  world  trade 
and  the  longer  the  trade  routes  at  the  break  of  which  it  is 
situated,  the  greater  the  city  will  become,  simply  because  of  the 
fact  that  it  grows  at  the  expense  of  its  rivals. 

Influence  of  Railways  and  Customs  Tariffs.     As  compared  with 

20  As  to  the  importance  which  mediaeval  cities  ascribed  to  securing  breaks 
in  trade  routes  where  they  were  situated,  see  Schmoller,  "The  Mercantile 
System,"  p.  10. 


GROWTH  OF  CITIES  19 

ancient  times,  trade  is,  in  modern  times,  carried  on  under  very 
artificial  conditions.  Railways  and  customs  tariffs  have  an  im- 
portant effect  upon  trade  and  as  a  consequence  upon  cities. 
Customs  tariffs  of  themselves  make  breaks  in  trade  routes.  If 
custom  districts  are  small,  breaks  in  trade  routes  are  numerous 
and  few  large  cities  can  develop.  If  customs  districts  are  large, 
i.  e.,  if  political  organizations  have  expanded,  fewer  customs 
houses  and  therefore  greater  cities  are  found.  In  large  states 
themselves  customs  tariffs  may  be  made  a  means  by  which  cities 
may  be  developed.  If  the  government  of  a  particular  state  de- 
sires to  concentrate  population  in  a  few  cities  it  may  do  so  by 
limiting  the  number  of  its  ports  of  entry  and  its  customs  houses. 
If,  however,  it  desires  to  scatter  its  population  among  numerous 
cities,  it  may  do  so  by  making  a  large  number  of  ports  of  entry 
and  permitting  the  establishment  of  bonded  routes,  by  which 
merchandise  may  be  carried  into  the  interior  and  examined 
and  the  duties  on  it  paid  away  from  the  coast  or  the  land 
frontier. 

Railways,  of  themselves  artificial  trade  routes,  may  be  made 
influences  for  the  concentration  of  population,  not  only  through 
the  fact  that  by  their  mere  construction  they  cause  breaks  in 
more  nearly  natural  trade  routes  to  disappear,  but  as  well 
through  the  system  of  rates  which  may  be  adopted.  Differ- 
ential rates  in  favor  of  one  place  as  against  another  and  a  basing 
point  system  of  rates  have,  it  is  believed  by  most  New  York 
merchants,  attracted  trade  from  that  city  to  other  and  in  some 
instances  interior  points,  which  have  become  themselves  dis- 
tributing points  for  internal  or  foreign  trade.  This  would  not 
have  been  the  case  had  such  rate  systems  not  been  adopted.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  tapering  rates,  as  they  are  called,  which 
seem  everywhere  to  have  been  adopted  in  Australia,  have,  it  is 
said,  served  to  concentrate  population  in  the  large  centers  of 
Sidney  and  Melbourne,  and  have  prevented  the  development 
of  small  centers  of  trade  in  the  interior,  whose  absence  is  so 
marked  in  the  southern  continent. 

One  may,  therefore,  conclude  that  the  modern  world  trade 
and  long  trade  routes  tend  to  further  the  development  of  the 
great  cities  at  the  expense  of  the  small,  but  that  in  the  artificial 


20  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

conditions  due  to  customs  tariffs  and  railway  rates  much  may  be 
done  to  counteract  those  influences,  or  at  any  rate  to  prevent 
them  from  having  an  undue  effect. 

Industry  as  a  Motive  for  City  Forming.  It  would  be  improper, 
however,  to  conclude  that  trade  is  the  only  great  cause  for  urban 
growth.  It  is  the  most  important,  it  is  true,  both  because  the 
influences  of  trade  are  increasingly  centripetal  in  character  as 
the  districts  widen  over  which  trade  extends,  and  the  trade 
routes  lengthen,  and  because  industry  finds  little  field  for 
activity  until  trade  has  been  established.  But  once  facilities  for 
trade  are  provided,  industry  progresses  by  leaps  and  bounds 
and  becomes  a  prime  factor  in  the  city's  growth. 

Household  Industry.  The  original  kind  of  industry  with 
which  we  are  acquainted  is  that  of  the  household.  Under  the 
system  of  household  industry  household  wants  of  an  industrial 
character  were  supplied  by  the  members  of  the  household,  in 
the  main  the  women,  to  whom  mankind  is  indebted  for  most 
of  the  rude  appliances  by  which  industry  was  originally  carried 
on.  Household  industry  can  be  carried  on  where  there  is  no 
trade  since  each  industrial  unit  is  self-sufficient.  A  variety  of 
household  industry  is  the  village  or  manorial  system  in  which 
there  may  be  a  certain  differentiation.  Particular  industries 
may  require  all  the  services  of  particular  individuals.  There 
may  be  a  village  shoemaker,  a  village  tailor  and  a  village  black- 
smith. The  difference  between  a  strictly  household  system  and 
a  village  system  of  industry  consists  of  course  in  the  fact  that 
under  the  latter  a  community  arises,  between  whose  members 
something  in  the  nature  of  trade  exists.  But  in  both  cases  the 
industry  is  confined  to  supplying  the  wants  of  such  a  small 
circle  and  the  trade,  such  as  it  is,  is  circumscribed  by  such  nar- 
row limits  as  to  have  practically  no  influence  in  attracting  an 
aggregation  of  people.  Such  aggregation  as  exists  is  of  the 
kind  spoken  of  by  Giddings  in  his  ''Principles  of  Sociology"  as 
a  genetic  aggregation. 

The  Guilds.  But  in  those  communities  where  trade  with  other 
communities  is  favored  by  their  situation,  the  tendency  is  for  the 
business  of  the  industrial  classes,  which  have  differentiated,  to 
increase.  The  shoemaker  or  the  tailor  or  the  blacksmith  hires 


GROWTH  OF  CITIES  21 

persons  to  help  him  and  the  guild  or  handicraft  system  springs 
up. 

While  in  the  household  system,  as  has  been  said,  the  women 
are  the  principal  industrial  factors,  under  the  village  or  ma- 
norial system  the  men  take  a  more  prominent  part,  and  in  the 
guild  system  they  seem  to  play  the  principal  role.  This  is  not 
so  much  because  the  women  have  been  relieved  of  labor,  but 
rather  because  the  new  industries  that  have  sprung  up  can, 
because  of  their  character,  be  more  effectively  attended  to  by 
men.  The  men  are  now  enabled  to  attend  to  them  since,  because 
of  improvements  in  agricultural  methods,  a  certain  number  have 
been  relieved  of  work  in  the  fields. 

Domestic  Industry.  While  yet  the  only  power  by  which  in- 
dustrial appliances  were  worked  was  hand  or  some  other  form 
of  muscular  power,  a  still  wider  development  of  industry  came 
with  enlarging  markets,  in  what  is  called  the  domestic  or  cot- 
tage system.  Although  by  this  change  industry  returned  to 
the  household,  still  the  system  differed  greatly  from  what  has 
been  called  the  household  system.  In  the  household  system  the 
attempt  was  made  to  supply  the  needs  of  the  household  only, 
while  in  the  domestic  system  the  members  of  the  household  en- 
gaged in  the  industry  worked  for  wages  and  with  the  earnings 
from  their  labor  bought  that  which  they  needed  but  did  not 
produce.  This  system  had  in  common  with  the  guild  system  the 
characteristic  that  the  cottage  artisan,  like  the  guild  member, 
worked  for  an  employer  who  in  most  cases  supplied  capital  in 
the  shape  of  raw  material  and  wages  and  sold  the  product  for 
what  he  could  get. 

The  domestic  system  was  the  most  highly  developed  form  of 
industry  during  the  time  that  the  power  used  in  industry  was 
hand  or  muscular  power,  and  with  the  exception  of  a  few 
factories  where  machinery  and  workmen  were  gathered  together 
it  was  the  prevailing  form  throughout  England  in  the  middle  of 
the  eighteenth  century.  Furthermore,  even  under  this  system 
the  business  of  manufacturing  was  not  conducted  entirely  by  a 
special  class  which  devoted  themselves  to  this  work  alone.  Spin- 
ning and  weaving  were  in  large  degree  in  the  hands  of  persons 
who  devoted  a  good  part  of  their  time  to  agriculture  and  often 


22  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

had  near  the  cottage  in  which  they  carried  on  their  industry  a 
plot  of  land  which  they  cultivated.21 

The  domestic  system  of  industry  may  not  be  said  to  have 
exercised  any  very  great  influence  on  the  concentration  of  popu- 
lation and  cannot  therefore  be  said  to  have  contributed  to  urban 
growth.  Indeed,  in  England,  it  had  the  contrary  effect  of 
diminishing  the  urban  population  which  had  grown  up  as  a  re- 
sult of  the  guild  system,  and  was  strenuously  opposed  by  the 
cities  which  saw  their  industries  decline  and  their  guilds  diminish 
in  power  and  importance,  as  a  result  of  the  spread  of  the  domes- 
tic system. 

The  Factory  System.  .  The  next  and  last  stage  in  industrial  de- 
velopment was  the  factory  system.  This  was  made  not  only 
possible  but  necessary  by  the  application  of  steam  power  to 
manufactures  and  the  invention  of  such  machines  as  the  power 
loom  and  spinning  jenny,  and  was  distinguished  from  the  sys- 
tem which  it  superseded  by  the  fact  that  the  artisans  had  to 
come  to  their  work,  whereas  before,  in  large  measure,  their  work 
came  to  them.  The  centralization  of  industry  due  to  the  factory 
system  had  most  marked  effects  on  urban  development.  The 
world  over,  the  establishment  of  the  factory  system  has  been 
followed,  as  we  have  seen,  by  a  concentration  of  population  in 
large  cities. 

Comparative  Effects  of  Trade  and  Industry.  It  would  seem, 
however,  that  industry,  different  from  trade,  does  not  neces- 
sarily have  a  permanent  and  continuing  centripetal  influence 
in  building  up  large  at  the  expense  of  small  cities.  Thus  in  the 
United  States  all  of  the  124  cities  of  the  country  of  more  than 
25,000  population  grew  from  1880-1890  at  the  rate  47.7  per 
cent;  the  28  largest  cities  at  the  rate  of  44.9  per  cent,  and  the 
second  largest,  viz.,  those  less  than  the  largest  but  of  at  least 
25,000,  at  the  rate  of  58.9  per  cent.  In  England  in  the  period 
from  1881-1891  the  cities  of  from  20,000  to  100,000  popula- 
tion increased  most  rapidly.22  In  both  France  and  Germany 
peculiar  circumstances  have  perhaps  contributed  to  make  the 
result  somewhat  different  from  that  in  England  and  the  United 

21  Hobson,  "The  Evolution  of  Modern  Capitalism,"  p.  34. 

22  Weber,  p.  50. 


GROWTH  OF  CITIES  23 

States.  In  France  the  railways  are  constructed  and  operated 
in  such  a  way  as  to  give  predominance  to  Paris,  and  Paris  is 
of  course  included  in  the  cities  of  100,000  and  over.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  however,  while  all  the  cities  of  100,000  and  over 
showed  a  gain  from  1861-91  of  47  per  cent,  those  of  10-20,000, 
42  per  cent;  those  from  20,000  to  100,000  have  gained  50  per 
cent.23  In  Germany  the  enormous  growth  of  Berlin,  due  to  its 
becoming  the  capital  of  the  newly  formed  German  Empire,  gives 
to  the  cities  of  over  100,000  the  largest  rate  of  growth. 

An  analysis  of  the  population  of  the  largest  cities  on  the  one 
hand  and  the  smaller  cities  on  the  other  hand,  which  we  have 
seen  are  developing  more  quickly  than  the  largest  ones,  would 
seem  to  show  that  the  former  are  rather  commercial,  while  the 
latter  are  rather  industrial  in  character.  By  the  twelfth  census 
of  the  United  States  the  one  hundred  and  sixty  cities  of  the  coun- 
try of  at  least  25,000  inhabitants  had  a  total  population  of  per- 
sons of  at  least  ten  years  of  age  of  15,674,181.  Of  these,  8,420,- 
909  were  engaged  in  gainful  pursuits.  Of  these  2,473,525  were 
engaged  in  trade  and  transportation,  3,265,402  in  manufacturing 
and  mechanical  pursuits,  2,129,852  in  personal  and  domestic 
service,  and  462,761  in  professional  service,  i.  e.,  a  little  over 
29  per  cent  of  those  engaged  in  gainful  occupations  were  en- 
gaged in  trade  and  transportation  and  a  little  under  39  per  cent 
in  manufacturing  and  mechanical  pursuits. 

In  New  York,  however,  while  industry  claimed  37  per  cent  of 
the  earning  population,  commerce  also  claimed  37  per  cent.  In 
Chicago  the  figures  were:  industry  nearly  33  per  cent,  trade 
and  transportation  a  little  over  35  per  cent.  In  both  Boston 
and  San  Francisco  the  population  engaged  in  commerce  was 
greater  than  that  in  industry ;  in  the  former  nearly  34  per  cent 
were  in  commerce,  a  little  over  32  per  cent  in  industry;  in  the 
latter  nearly  34  per  cent  were  in  commerce,  nearly  32  per  cent 
in  industry. 

Philadelphia  and  Baltimore  seem  to  be  exceptions  to  the  rule, 
being  preeminently  industrial  cities,  though  among  the  largest 
cities  in  the  country.  In  some  of  the  smaller  inland  cities,  how- 

23  Weber,  "Growth  of  Cities,"  p.  75. 


24  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

ever,  the  disproportion  between  the  commercial  and  industrial 
population  is  very  great.  This  is  particularly  true  of  New 
England,  where  in  some  cities  like  Worcester  and  Fall  River  the 
industrial  population  is  from  two  to  nearly  five  times  as  great 
as  the  commercial. 

Dispersion  of  Population.  We  may,  therefore,  conclude  that 
although  the  largest  cities  will  be  with  us  as  most  difficult 
governmental  problems,  the  rate  of  their  growth  is  not  in  the 
main  to  be  proportionally  so  great  in  the  future  as  it  has  been  in 
the  past.  For  while  we  may  conceive  of  greater  concentration  in 
industry  it  is  difficult  to  imagine  a  much  more  world-wide  trade 
than  we  now  have.  A  further  extension  of  trade  routes  is 
practically  impossible,  and  unless  such  an  extension  takes  place 
favored  commercial  cities  cannot  grow  at  the  expense  of  their 
less  favored  rivals  as  they  have  grown  in  the  past.  The  line  of 
attack,  therefore,  if  we  are  convinced  of  the  necessity  of  a 
greater  dispersion  of  population,  is  along  the  lines  of  trade  and 
transportation  rather  than  along  the  lines  of  industry.  Greater 
decentralization  in  the  transportation  and  commercial  system  by 
taking  from  favored  commercial  centers  the  advantages  they  now 
hold  in  the  matter  of  railway  rates  will  do  much  to  distribute 
population  or  at  any  rate  to  prevent  greater  concentration  of 
population  so  far  as  that  is  due  to  preferential  treatment.  The 
concentration  of  population  due  to  changed  industrial  condi- 
tions will  in  all  probability  correct  itself  as  it  becomes  less  profit- 
able to  conduct  industry  in  large  cities.  High  rents  and  taxes 
will  drive  industries  into  the  smaller  cities  if  freight  rates  can 
be  made  favorable  enough. 


CHAPTER  II 

CHARACTER  OF   CITY  POPULATIONS 

REFERENCES  : 

Wilcox,  D.  F.,  "Great  Cities  in  America,"  Chap.  I.  Wilcox,  D.  F.,  "The 
American  City,"  Chap.  I.  Strong,  J.,  "The  Twentieth  Century  City." 
Beard,  C.  A.,  "American  City  Government,"  Chap.  I.  Howe,  F.  C., 
"The  Modern  City  and  Its  Problems,"  Chap.  V.  Weber,  A.  F.,  "Growth  of 
Cities  in  the  Nineteeth  Century,"  Chaps.  II,  III  and  V.  Jones,  T.  J., 
"Sociology  of  a  New  York  City  Block,"  Chaps.  II,  VII,  IX,  and  X. 
Bushee,  F.  A.,  "Ethnic  Factors  in  the  Population  of  Boston."  "Publica- 
tions of  the  American  Economic  Association,"  Third  Series,  Vol.  IV  (May, 
1903),  No.  2.  Rowe,  L.  S.,  "Problems  of  City  Government,"  Chap.  IV. 

Existence  of  an  Urban  Type  of  Character.  It  has  been  pointed 
out  that  from  various  motives,  political,  commercial,  industrial, 
or  what  not,  large  numbers  of  people  have,  within  comparatively 
recent  times,  been  attracted  to  the  cities  not  only  of  America  but 
of  Europe  as  well.  It  is  but  inevitable  that  a  population  thrown 
together  under  conditions  so  different  from  those  surrounding 
the  people  of  the  rural  districts  should  develop  characteristics 
peculiar  to  their  environment.  For  the  student  of  municipal 
government,  the  question  is,  whether  these  characteristics  are 
such  as  to  differentiate  their  possessors  from  the  inhabitants  of 
the  state  at  large  with  respect  to  their  ability  for  self-govern- 
ment. An  analysis  of  the  character  of  urban  populations  re- 
veals certain  elements  which  invite  investigation  in  this  con- 
nection. 

Heterogeneity  of  City  Population.  It  has  been  pointed  out 
that  in  all  civilized  countries  a  large  proportion  of  the  population 
is  derived  from  immigration.  Of  this  migration  to  the  cities 
Doctor  Weber  says:  "Migration  is  predominantly  a  short-dis- 
tance movement,  but  the  centers  of  attraction  are  the  great 
cities,  toward  which  currents  of  migration  set  in  from  the  re- 
motest counties.  The  larger  the  city,  the  greater  its  power  of  at- 

25 


26  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

traction,  i.  e.,  the  larger  its  proportion  of  outsiders,  the  more 
distant  the  counties  or  districts  which  contribute  to  it. "  * 

In  urban  populations,  then,  a  large  proportion  of  people  have 
few  important  historical  traditions,  and  no  local  associations 
which  take  root  in  childhood.  In  this  there  is  sharp  contrast 
to  the  rural  population  where  an  attachment  to  the  soil  and  a 
conservatism  of  attitude  toward  things  in  general  develop  in  a 
way  quite  impossible  under  the  conditions  of  modern  city  life. 
In  so  far  as  cities  do  not  recruit  their  population  from  the  out- 
side, they  approach  more  nearly  the  character  of  the  rural  dis- 
tricts with  respect  to  group  solidarity.  Where  the  city  owes 
its  existence  or  increase  chiefly  to  the  excess  of  its  birth  over 
its  death  rate,  the  population  has  less  the  characteristics  of  a 
bird  of  passage.  Long  historical  association  with  the  city  and 
with  the  same  neighborhood  groups,  as  well  as  intermarriages 
within  the  group,  have  a  strong  steadying  influence  upon  ideas 
and  opinions,  in  marked  contrast  with  the  fluidity  of  opinion 
in  externally  recruited  centers.  On  these  grounds  it  might  be 
expected  that  the  population  of  the  cities  of  Germany  and  Eng- 
land would  be  less  heterogeneous  in  origin  and  ideas  than  those 
of  the  United  States. 

The  heterogeneity  of  populations  is  especially  noticeable  in 
larger  cities  since  they  draw  their  immigrants  from  more  widely 
scattered  sources,  and  at  the  same  time  their  average  birth  rate 
is  not  so  greatly  in  excess  of  the  death  rate.  Furthermore,  if 
the  population  of  the  city  is  recruited  largely  by  emigration 
from  foreign  countries,  a  still  greater  degree  of  heterogeneity 
may  be  expected.  Difference  of  language,  difference  of  re- 
ligion, difference  of  morals  and  difference  of  general  habits,  all 
tend  to  produce  a  population  of  extreme  heterogeneity.  Such  is 
the  character  of  the  population  of  the  cities  of  the  United  States. 

By  the  United  States  census  of  1910,  of  the  total  urban  popu- 
lation, 22.6  per  cent  were  foreign-born  while  the  percentage 
in  the  rural  districts  was  but  7.5.  Foreign-born  and  the 
children  of  such  formed  51.6  per  cent  of  the  urban  popula- 
tion. In  the  eight  cities  of  more  than  500,000  population  the 

i  Weber,  "Growth  of  Cities,"  p.  283. 


CHARACTER  OF  CITY  POPULATIONS  27 

foreign-born  comprised  33.6  per  cent  of  the  inhabitants.  In  a 
large  number  of  the  cities  of  lesser  size  a  similar  state  of  affairs 
exists.  In  several  of  the  large  industrial  centers  the  propor- 
tion of  foreign-born  rises  above  40  per  cent  and  in  one  case 
above  50  per  cent.  The  proportion  of  those  of  foreign  birth 
or  of  foreign  parentage  in  a  number  of  centers  goes  above  80 
per  cent,  while  in  some  of  these  cities  those  of  native  parentage 
sink  to  less  than  15  per  cent.2  A  comparison  of  these  figures 
with  those  of  the  censuses  as  far  back  as  1850  shows,  however, 
that  the  percentage  of  aliens,  while  increasing  in  the  country  at 
large,  has  decreased  in  the  cities. 

To  this  heterogeneity,  due  to  the  presence  of  persons  of  for- 
eign birth,  or  those  whose  antecedents  and  traditions  are  foreign, 
in  large  numbers,  must  be  added  that  due  to  the  presence  of  the 
negro,  though  it  is  a  fact  that  the  proportion  of  negroes  in  the 
urban  districts  of  the  country  is  decreasing.  The  percentage  of 
negroes  in  the  cities  of  more  than  25,000,  in  1910,  was  but  6.3 
per  cent,  but  in  certain  cities  the  percentage  is  very  large.3 

Public  Health  in  Cities.  Formerly  it  was  believed  by  many 
that  physically  the  city-dweller  was  much  inferior  to  the  in- 
habitant of  the  rural  districts.  This  opinion,  so  far  as  it  was 
founded  upon  fact,  was  based  upon  old  statistics.  It  is  true 
that  until  since  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century,  the  death 

2  In  the  fifty  cities  of  over  100,000  inhabitants,  the  foreign-born  in- 
cluded more  than  33  per  cent;  three  had  more  than  40  per  cent  (Lowell, 
40.9  per  cent;  New  York,  40.4  per  cent;  Fall  River,  42.6  per  cent),  while 
Manhattan  Borough  of  New  York  had  47.4  per  cent.  Of  the  cities  of  the 
class  between  25,000  and  100,000,  of  which  there  were  179,  27  contained 
more  than  33  per  cent  and  10  over  40  per  cent  each.  Those  of  over  40  per 
cent  were  Holyoke,  Mass.,  40.3 ;  Shenandoah,  Pa.,  40.6 ;  New  Britain,  Conn., 
41  per  cent;  Chelsea,  Mass.,  42.4  per  cent;  Manchester,  N.  H.,  42.4  per  cent; 
Woonsocket,  R.  I.,  43.4  per  cent;  New  Bedford,  Mass.,  44.1  per  cent;  Perth 
Amboy,  N.  J.,  45  per  cent;  Lawrence,  Mass.,  48.1  per  cent;  Passaic,  N.  J., 
52  per  cent. 

Those  of  native  parentage  were  in  Woonsocket,  15  per  cent;  Passaic, 
13.8,  and  Lawrence,  13.6  per  cent. 

s  The  percentage  of  negro  population  in  certain  cities  is,  by  the  census 
of  1910,  as  follows:  Charleston,  S.  C.,  52.8  per  cent;  Savannah,  51.1  per 
cent;  Jacksonville,  50.8  per  cent;  Montgomery,  50.7  per  cent;  Shreveport, 
49.6  per  cent,  and  Wilmington,  N.  C.,  47  per  cent. 


28  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

rate  in  cities  was  generally  higher  than  in  the  country.  There 
seems  to  be  little  doubt  that  formerly  the  general  health  and 
physical  development  of  those  reared  and  living  in  the  cities 
were  lower  than  in  the  case  of  persons  in  the  country  districts, 
whose  occupations  ordinarily  kept  them  much  in  the  open  air. 

The  fact  has  however  been  fairly  well  established  in  the  last 
half-century  that  the  factor  of  urban  or  country  life  has  little 
necessary,  or  even  usual,  relation  to  physical  well-being. 
11  Health  and  vigor  may  always  be  preserved  if  men  in  cities 
will  make  proper  provision  for  open  air,  exercise,  cleanliness 
and  pure  food  supply. " 4  "In  1874,  a  French  authority  de- 
clared that  fitness  for  army  service  depends  less  on  density  of 
population  than  on  wealth,  climate,  daily  life, ' ' 5  etc.  Physical 
examinations  of  those  presenting  themselves  for  examination 
for  entrance  into  the  National  Army  of  the  United  States,  in 
1917  and  1918,  have  shown  that  a  higher  physical  standard 
was  attained  by  recruits  from  the  cities  than  by  those  from 
the  country.6 

Improved  sanitary  conditions,  a  more  carefully  guarded  food 
supply  and  a  wider  recognition  of  the  value  of  pure  air  and 
athletic  sports  have  done  much  to  turn  the  scale  in  favor  of  the 
physical  superiority  of  city  over  country  populations. 

Women  in  Cities.  Since,  under  modern  conditions,  cities  are 
to  an  increasing  extent  being  recruited  by  internal  means,  the 
physical  standards  maintained  among  women  in  the  cities  are 
of  increasing  importance  not  only  to  the  present  but  to  future 
generations.  This  problem  takes  on  a  more  serious  aspect,  too, 
on  account  of  the  increasing  participation  of  women  in  the 
industrial  and  commercial  life  of  the  community.  The  number 
of  women  thus  engaged,  and  especially  the  number  of  these 

*  Weber,  "Growth  of  Cities,"  p.  395,  quoting  a  French  authority. 

s  Ibid.     Quoting  same  authority. 

e  Of  the  total  number  rejected  as  unfit,  63  per  cent  were  from  the  coun- 
try and  37  per  cent  from  the  cities.  As  a  result  of  the  examination  by 
the  Indiana  State  Board  of  Health  of  1,000  country  school  children  and 
1,000  city  school  children,  with  respect  to  thirteen  physical  defects  to 
which  children  are  subject,  it  was  found  that  the  percentage  afflicted  with 
each  defect  was  much  greater  among  country  than  among  city  children. 
(Letter  of  Dr.  J.  N.  Hurty,  secretary,  Indiana  State  Board  of  Health.) 


CHARACTER  OP  CITY  POPULATIONS  29 

working  after  marriage,  and  hence  to  a  considerable  extent 
mothers  of  families,  has  direct  bearing  not  only  upon  the 
physical,  but  likewise  upon  the  moral  and  social  well-being  of 
the  urban  population. 

While  statistics  as  to  the  conjugal  relations  of  women  en- 
gaged in  occupations  other  than  home-making  are  not  available 
in  the  census  of  1910,  it  is  possible  to  draw  certain  inferences 
upon  this  subject.  It  appears  that  in  cities  of  more  than  25,000 
inhabitants,  the  number  of  females  exceeds  that  of  the  males.7 
If  occupations  are  considered,  it  seems  that  urban  women  en- 
gaged in  " gainful  pursuits"  (i.e.,  those  other  than  home- 
making),  are  employed  in  domestic  service,  manufacturing  and 
mechanical  pursuits,  trade  and  transportation,  and  in  profes- 
sional services  in  the  order  named. 

It  may  be  assumed  with  reasonable  safety  that  a  very  large 
proportion  of  the  women  engaged  in  domestic  service  are  un- 
married, and  that  a,  considerable  majority  of  those  in  pro- 
fessional pursuits  (chiefly  nurses  and  teachers),  and  those  in 
trade  and  transportation  (chiefly  retail  and  office  clerks),  are 
likewise  unmarried.  If  these  assumptions  are  reasonably  cor- 
rect it  may  be  concluded  that,  although  there  is  found  to  be 
an  excessive  number  of  unmarried  females  in  the  cities,  a  large 
number  of  married  women  are  employed  in  gainful  occupations, 
and  that  the  number  employed  in  manufacturing  and  mechan- 
ical pursuits  is  disproportionately  large.8 

i  Dr.  Weber  in  summing  up  his  conclusions  on  this  point  says  (p.  299)  : 
"The  excess  of  females  in  any  population  is  usually  ascribed,  first,  to  the 
heavier  mortality  of  male  than  female  infants,  which  within  the  first  year 
usually  effaces  the  superiority  of  male  births.  Then  comes  the  great  mor- 
tality of  adult  males  due  to  the  dangers  of  their  occupations,  as  well  as  to 
vice,  crime  and  excesses  of  various  kinds  which  shorten  life.  Now,  all  these 
forces  are  accentuated  in  the  cities,  producing  a  greater  excess  of  females 
there  than  elsewhere,  even  without  the  influence  of  immigration,  which 
increases  the  surplus  of  women  [who  are  greater  migrants  than  men  to  the 
cities,  see  Ibid.,  p.  284]  in  cities.  In  the  cities,  also,  the  superiority  of  male 
births  over  female  births  is  smaller  than  in  the  country." 

8  The  percentage  of  distribution  of  women  in  gainful  occupations,  in  1910, 
is  given  by  the  census  statistics  as  follows: 

Agricultural  pursuits    22      i    _,,  . 

,  ,  ..    I  Chiefly  rural 

Manufacturing  and  mechanical    21.9  j 


30  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

The  connection  between  the  employment  of  women  in  in- 
dustry and  infant  mortality  is  brought  out  in  the  statistics  of 
the  census  of  1900.  It  is  there  shown  that,  as  compared  with 
other  cities,  in  those  devoted  to  textile  industry  in  which  large 
numbers  of  women  are  employed,  the  rate  of  infant  mortality  is 
unusually  high.9 

While  tables  already  given  reveal  a  high  correlation  between 
the  employment  of  women  and  the  rate  of  infant  mortality, 
recent  studies  tend  to  ascribe  this  high  mortality  in  certain 
industrial  cities  to  the  economic  condition  of  the  family.  The 
high  mortality  rate  of  children  is  said  to  be  due  to  the  inade- 
quate incomes  of  families  rather  than  to  the  lack  of  care  and 
of  nurture  attendant  upon  the  employment  of  mothers.  One 
student  of  the  problem  states  that  "the  fundamental  cause 
of  the  excessive  rate  of  infant  mortality  in  industrial  com- 
munities is  poverty,  inadequate  incomes,  and  low  standards  of 
living  with  their  attendant  evils,  including  the  gainful  employ- 
ment of  mothers.  The  employment  of  the  mothers  in  gainful 
occupations  is  simply  the  remedy  for  these  evils  or  'adverse 
conditions'  which  the  working  people  in  industrial  communities 
have  adopted.  Undoubtedly,  this  recourse  has  had  an  im- 
portant effect  on  the  problem,  in  many  cases  actually  tending 
to  reduce  the  rate  of  infant  mortality,  while  in  others  having 
just  the  opposite  effect.  The  primary  question  in  considering 
the  social  causes  of  infant  mortality  is  whether  the  employ- 

Domeetic  and  personal  service  32.5  "I 

Trade  and  transportation    14.9  I  Chiefly  urban 

Professional    services    8.3  j 

»  The  following  figures  are  taken  from  the  mortality  tables  of  the  census 
of  1900: 

Females  in        Percentage    Average  death  rate 

industry               of  all  per  thousand  chil- 

females  dren  under  5  years 

Fall  River,  Mass 14,556        =        33  103.1 

Lawrence,   Mass 7,671         =         29  89.2 

New  Bedford,  Mass 6,001         =         22  93.7 

Philadelphia,  Pa 65,325         =         13  70.9 

Minneapolis,  Minn 5,151         =          7  39.7 

Columbus,  0 3,378         =           6  41.3 


CHARACTER  OF  CITY  POPULATIONS  31 

ment  of  mothers  and  married  women  in  extra-domestic  occu- 
pations is,  from  the  viewpoint  of  society  as  a  whole,  a  good 
remedy  for  poverty  and  an  acceptable  means  of  mitigating  its 
influence  on  the  health  and  mortality  of  babies  and  young  chil- 
dren. From  the  point  of  view  of  the  individual  poor  or  poverty- 
stricken  family,  the  fact  cannot  be  escaped  that  the  effect  may 
be  both  good  and  bad:  bad,  in  that  it  causes  the  baby  to  be 
artificially  fed,  forces  the  mother  to  be  absent  from  home,  and 
in  other  ways  lowers  her  efficiency  as  a  mother;  good,  in  that 
it  increases  the  family  income  and  decreases  the  influences  of 
poverty.  We  are,  thus,  forced  to  conclude  that  the  fundamental 
economic  and  industrial  factor  of  infant  mortality  is  low  wages. 
The  fundamental  remedy  is  obviously  higher  wages."10 

Home  Life  in  Cities.  In  the  development  of  character  no  in- 
fluence is  more  potent  than  that  of  the  home  and  the  family. 
The  employment  of  married  women  in  industry  must  exercise 
in  still  other  directions  than  the  care  and  nurture  of  children, 
an  important  influence  on  the  home  life  of  a  large  part  of  the 
population  in  industrial  centers.  The  family  must,  in  the  na- 
ture of  things,  where  the  mother  is  continually  absent  from 
home,  come  to  be  of  a  different  character  from  what  it  is  under 
different  conditions. 

An  important  influence  on  the  family  or  home  life  of  a  large 
part  of  the  urban  population  is  also  to  be  found  in  the  degree 
to  which  the  family,  owing  to  housing  conditions,  is  a  domestic 
unit.  Under  the  influence  of  the  factory  system,  which  has 
been  seen  to  be  so  commonly  adopted  in  cities,  it  has  naturally 
ceased  to  be  the  industrial  unit.  What,  now,  are  the  condi- 
tions in  cities  which  affect  it  as  a  domestic  unit?  Some  idea 
of  these  conditions  may  be  obtained,  from  one  point  of  view 
at  least,  by  considering  the  number  of  persons  in  a  dwelling. 

The  census  of  1910  shows  that  while  in  the  country  as  a 
whole  the  average  number  of  persons  to  a  dwelling  is  5.1,  the 
average  in  cities  of  over  25,000  inhabitants  is  6.8.  The  range 

1°  Hibbs,  H.  H.,  Jr.,  "The  Influence  of  Economic  and  Industrial  Condi- 
tions on  Infant  Mortality,"  Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics,  Vol.  30,  No. 
1,  p.  150. 


32  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

in  the  larger  cities  is  from  30.9  in  Manhattan  Borough  in  New 
York  City  to  4.4  in  Indianapolis.11  A  consideration  of  the 
detailed  figures  would  apparently  lead  to  the  conclusion  that 
in  the  largest  cities,  with  the  exception  of  Philadelphia,  there 
is  a  crowding  of  the  city  population  which  must  have  an  im- 
portant influence  upon  the  family  as  a  domestic  unit,  but  that 
in  Philadelphia  and  the  cities  of  the  second  grade  conditions 
are  little,  if  any,  different  from  what  they  are  in  the  open 
country.  An  investigation  made  a  decade  ago  of  the  standard 
of  living  of  workingmen's  families  shows  that  the  larger  the 
city  the  larger  is  the  proportion  of  the  family  income  which 
goes  for  rent  and  the  smaller  are  the  family  quarters.  In  the 
borough  of  Manhattan  it  was  found  that  on  the  average  24 
per  cent  of  the  income  of  the  families  investigated  having 
an  income  of  from  $600  to  $700  went  to  the  payment  of  rent. 
In  Syracuse  and  Rochester,  however,  the  percentage  is  20. 
Again,  in  Rochester,  for  example,  apartments  of  seven  or  eight 
rooms  are  the  rule,  while  in  the  borough  of  Manhattan  71 
per  cent  of  the  families  with  an  income  from  $600  to  $800, 
which  were  investigated,  lived  in  three  rooms.12 

Economic  Conditions  in  Cities.  Besides  the  conditions  in  cities 
already  noted  which  might  be  termed  economic,  there  are  certain 
others  which  affect  the  character  of  urban  populations.  Among 
these  is  the  matter  of  the  equality  of  the  distribution  of  prop- 
erty, which  is  indicated  to  some  degree  by  the  extent  to  which 
people  in  the  cities  as  compared  with  those  in  the  country  own 
their  homes.  It  may  be  said  that  the  first  important  invest- 
ment of  the  average  man  of  family  under  normal  conditions 
is  the  purchase  of  a  home. 

The  census  of  1910  shows  that  62.8  per  cent  of  what  are 

11  The  number  of  persons  per  dwelling  in  the  larger  cities  was  in  1910 
as  follows:  New  York  City,  15.6;  Manhattan  Borough,  30.9;  Bronx  Borough, 
15;    Chicago,  8.9;   Philadelphia,  5.2;   Boston,  9J;    Baltimore,  5.5;   Pitts- 
burg,  6.1;  San  Francisco,  6.4;  St.  Louis,  6.5;  Buffalo,  6.8;  Cincinnati,  7.3; 
Cleveland,  6.2;    Detroit,   5.6;    Indianapolis,  4.4;    Milwaukee,   6.2;    Minne- 
apolis, 6.4. 

12  Chapin,    "The    Standard    of    Living    Among    Workingmen's    Families 
in  New  York  City,"  pp.  272-3. 


CHARACTER  OF  CITY  POPULATIONS  33 

called  "farm  families"  own  their  homes,  while  only  37.2  rent 
them.  In  the  case  of  families  other  than  "farm  families"  the 
figures  are  almost  reversed.  Only  38.4  per  cent  of  such  families 
own  their  homes,  while  61.6  rent.  In  the  largest  cities  the  per- 
centage of  home-owning  families  is  almost  incredibly  small. 
In  New  York  City  only  11.7  per  cent  belong  in  this  class,  while 
in  the  borough  of  Manhattan  the  percentage  falls  to  2.9  per 
cent.  In  this  borough  the  number  owning  homes  free  from 
mortgage  is  but  1.2  per  cent.13 

In  the  country  at  large  less  than  one-half  the  families  do  not 
have  property;  in  the  city  of  New  York  two-thirds  have  no 
property. 

Age  of  Urban  Populations.  Statistics  seem  to  prove  that  the 
cities  have  the  most  energetic  and  productive  portion  of  the 
population  considered  from  the  point  of  view  of  age.  There 
is  not  the  same  percentage  of  very  young  children  or  very  old 
people  as  in  the  rural  districts,  but  a  considerably  larger  per- 
centage of  people  between  the  ages  of  twenty-five  and  sixty-five. 

Dr.  Weber  in  summing  up  the  situation  for  cities  both  Amer- 
ican and  European  where  the  conditions  are  the  same  as  here, 
says:  "As  the  result  of  the  presence  of  a  relatively  larger 
number  of  persons  in  the  active  period  of  life  in  urban  popu- 
lations one  would  expect  city  life  to  be  easier  and  more  animated, 

is  Figures  for  other  large  cities  are  as  follows : 

Cities  Owning  homes  Free  from  mortgage 

Baltimore    33.7  per  cent  23.9  per  cent 

Boston    17.1  per  cent  7.7  per  cent 

Buffalo    34.2  per  cent  16.1  per  cent 

Chicago    26.2  per  cent  12.0  per  cent 

Cincinnati 23.2  per  cent  15.2  per  cent 

Cleveland   35.2  per  cent  17.7  per  cent 

Detroit 41.2  per  cent  21.2  per  cent 

Indianapolis    33.0  per  cent  17.2  per  cent 

Milwaukee     36.4  per  cent  16.4  per  cent 

Minneapolis    40.4  per  cent  22.8  per  cent 

New    Orleans    23.1  per  cent  18.6  per  cent 

Philadelphia    26.6  per  cent  11.6  per  cent 

Pittsburg 28.0  per  cent  15.2  per  cent 

San  Francisco  33.0  per  cent  19.7  per  cent 

St.  Louis   25.0  per  cent  14.8  per  cent 


34  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

the  productive  classes  being  large  and  having  a  smaller  burden 
to  bear  in  the  support  of  the  non-productive  class. ' ' 14  This 
advantage  that  city  life  offers  is  offset  to  an  extent  at  any  rate 
by  the  presence  in  cities  already  noted  of  an  undue  proportion 
of  women,  a  large  proportion  of  whom  are  reported  in  the  census 
of  the  United  States,  for  1910,  as  widows.  The  percentage  of 
widows  to  all  females  of  fifteen  years  of  age  and  over  in  urban 
communities  at  that  time  was  11.6,  while  in  rural  communities 
the  percentage  was  but  9.4.15 

Moral  Conditions.  It  is  extremely  difficult  to  obtain  an  exact 
idea  as  to  the  relative  morals  of  urban  and  rural  populations. 
It  is  almost  everywhere  the  case  that  the  statistics  of  crime, 
which  are  almost  the  only  statistical  measure  of  immorality  that 
we  have,  show  that  crime  is  more  common  in  the  cities  than  in 
the  rural  districts.  It  is  to  be  remembered,  however,  that  the 
opportunities  for  certain  classes  of  crime  are  much  greater  in 
the  cities  than  in  rural  districts,  and  that  the  greater  number 
of  crimes  which  we  find  in  the  urban  districts  may  be  due  to  the 
greater  temptation  to  which  urban  populations  are  exposed 
rather  than  to  any  greater  immoral  tendencies  on  their  part. 
The  vast  majority  of  crimes  in  the  city  are  against  property,  and 
so  far  as  we  are  able  to  compare  the  statistics  of  cities  with 
those  of  the  rural  districts,  we  find  that  the  excess  in  the  number 
of  crimes  in  urban  districts  is  almost  altogether  due  to  the 

i*  Dr.  Weber  in  commenting  on  the  age  of  city  populations  further  re- 
marks: "One  would  also  expect  to  find  more  energy  and  enterprise  in 
cities,  more  radicalism,  less  conservatism,  more  vice,  crime  and  impulsive- 
ness generally.  Birth  rates  should  be  high  in  cities  and  death  rates  low 
on  account  of  age  groupings"  (p.  304). 

is  In  1910,  the  91,803,211  persons  in  the  country  at  large,  and  the  42,- 
525,172  in  urban  territory,  whose  ages  were  known  were  distributed  accord- 
ing to  age  as  follows: 

Ages  Country  at  large  Urban  territory 

Per  cent  Per  cent 

Under  5  years   11.6  9.9 

5  to  14  years  20.5  17.4 

15  to  24  years  19.7  20.1 

25  to  44  years  29.1  33.2 

45  to  64  years  14.6  15.2 

65  and  over    4.3  4.0 


CHARACTER  OF  CITY  POPULATIONS  35 

greater  number  of  such  offenses.  When,  however,  we  come 
to  consider  crimes  against  the  person,  we  find  that  in  the  cities 
these  crimes  are  relatively  rather  less  than  they  are  in  the 
country.18 

Intellectual  Conditions.  While  the  urban  populations  may  be 
regarded  as  having  perhaps  a  slightly  greater  tendency  to  im- 
morality than  the  rural  populations,  they  are  from  the  point  of 
view  of  education  in  a  better  position.  Almost  everywhere  it  is 
the  case  that  city  schools  are  better  and  more  numerous  than  in 
the  rural  districts.  Further,  the  statistics  of  illiteracy  in  the 
United  States  show  that  "with  very  few  exceptions  (New  York 
City,  Pittsburg,  Cleveland  and  Detroit),  the  cities  have  a  better 
educated  population  than  the  rest  of  the  state  in  which  they 
are  situated.  The  difference  in  favor  of  the  cities  is  in  many 
instances  very  marked.  .  .  .  There  can  be  no  doubt  about  the 
superiority  of  the  city  schools,  both  primary  and  secondary. ' ' 1T 
By  the  United  States  census  of  1900,  it  was  shown  that  10.7 
per  cent  of  the  entire  population  over  ten  years  of  age  was 
illiterate,  while  in  the  one  hundred  and  sixty  cities  of  at  least 
25,000  inhabitants,  only  5.7  per  cent  were  illiterate.  But  as 
Hobson  points  out,  "The  education  derived  in  schools  is  ... 
only  a  part  of  the  education  men  receive.  Perhaps  the  most 
valuable  part  of  a  man's  real  education,  looked  at  from  the 
broadest  point  of  view,  is  that  which  he  obtains  out  of  school 
in  the  conduct  of  the  ordinary  affairs  of  life.  If  we  look 
at  the  matter  from  this  point  of  view  it  must  be  said  that  the 
greater  opportunities  for  social  intercourse  afforded  by  city  life 
tend  to  open  to  the  city  population  resources  which  are  denied 
to  the  countryman.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  to  be  remembered 
that  the  distractions  of  city  life  are  so  great  that  the  city 
dweller  is  apt  to  be  more  superficial  than  the  rural  inhabitant 
and  less  able,  as  a  result  of  the  education  which  he  receives  along 
all  lines,  to  develop  as  a  well-rounded  individual.  Scattered 
and  unrelated  fragments  of  half-baked  information  form  a  stock 
of  "knowledge"  with  which  the  townsmen's  glib  tongue  en- 
is  Weber,  pp.  401,  et  seq. 
"  Ibid.,  p.  308. 


36 

ables  him  to  present  a  showy  intellectual  shop-front.  Business 
smartness  pays  better  in  the  town,  and  the  low  intellectual 
qualities  which  are  contained  in  it  are  educated  by  town  life. 
The  knowledge  of  human  nature  thus  evoked  is  in  no  sense 
science,  it  is  a  mere  rule-of-thumb  affair,  a  thin  mechanical 
empiricism.  The  capable  business  man  who  is  said  to  under- 
stand the  "world"  and  his  fellowmen,  has  commonly  no  knowl- 
edge of  human  nature  in  the  larger  sense,  but  merely  knows 
from  observation  how  the  average  man  of  a  certain  limited  class 
is  likely  to  act  within  a  narrow  prescribed  sphere  of  self- 
seeking.  Town  life,  then,  strongly  favors  the  education  of 
certain  shallow  forms  of  intelligence.  In  actual  attainment  the 
townsman  is  somewhat  more  advanced  than  the  countryman. 
But  the  deterioration  of  physique  which  accompanies  this  gain 
causes  a  weakening  of  mental  fiber:  the  potentiality  of  intel- 
lectual development  and  work  which  the  countryman  brings 
with  him  on  his  entry  to  town  life  is  thwarted  and  depressed  by 
the  progressive  physical  enfeeblement.  Most  of  the  best  and 
strongest  intellectual  work  done  in  the  towns  is  done  by  immi- 
grants, not  by  town-bred  folk. ' ' 18 

Although  Mr.  Hobson's  conclusions  with  respect  to  the  "pro- 
gressive physical  enfeeblement"  which  he  says  comes  with  town 
life  cannot,  in  the  light  of  the  most  recent  information,  be 
accepted,  and  although  there  are  those  who  would  question 
whether  the  best  intellectual  work  of  the  towns  is  done  by 
immigrants  from  the  country,  his  comparisons  of  urban  and 
rural  intellectual  attainments  and  characteristics  may  be  ac- 
cepted as  otherwise  substantially  correct. 

Conclusions  as  to  Character.  An  analysis  of  the  character  of 
urban  populations  would  lead  us  to  the  following  conclusions: 

First.  The  population  of  cities  is  actuated  by  commercial  and 
industrial  motives.  As  Mr.  Hobson  says,19  "The  modern  town 
is  a  result  of  the  desire  to  produce  and  distribute  most  econom- 
ically the  largest  aggregate  of  material  goods ;  economy  of  work, 
not  convenience  of  life,  is  the  object.  Now,  the  economy  of 
factory  cooperation  is  only  social  to  a  very  limited  extent ;  anti- 

is  Hobson,  "Evolution  of  Modern  Capitalism,"  p.  339. 
i»  Ibid.,  p.  340. 


37 

social  feelings  are  touched  and  stimulated  at  every  point  by 
the  competition  of  workers  with  one  another,  the  antagonism 
between  employers  and  employed,  between  sellers  and  buyers, 
factory  and  factory,  shop  and  shop.  .  .  .  The  town  as  an  in- 
dustrial structure  is  at  present  inadequate  to  supply  a  social 
education  which  shall  be  strong  enough  to  defeat  the  tendencies 
to  anti-social  conduct  which  are  liable  to  take  the  shape  of 
criminal  action." 

Second.  This  population  is  perforce  heterogeneous  in  char- 
acter, and  the  larger  the  city  the  greater  is  apt  to  be  the  hetero- 
geneity. 

While  the  excessive  individualism  and  heterogeneity  of  urban 
populations  tend  to  make  difficult  social  cooperation,  it  must  be 
remembered  that  the  presence  in  a  small  area  of  many  persons 
makes  the  matter  of  their  organization  for  the  purpose  of  real- 
izing some  ideal  much  easier  than  it  would  be  in  the  sparse 
population  of  the  rural  districts.  The  spread  of  trade-unionism 
in  the  cities  is  a  good  illustration.  If  then  the  ideals  of  city 
populations  are  distinctly  social  in  character  a  real  social 
cooperation  is  easy  of  accomplishment  in  cities.  If  on  the  other 
hand  the  ideals  of  city  populations  are  individualistic  rather 
than  social  in  character,  the  ease  of  organizing  individuals  hav- 
ing the  same  individualistic  aims  may  result  in  the  formation 
of  distinct  classes  actuated  by  class  rather  than  by  social  inter- 
ests. And  the  greater  the  heterogeneity  of  the  population  the 
greater  the  liability  of  the  formation  of  these  classes.  If  there 
is  great  diversity  of  nationalities  or  races,  classes  formed  of 
the  individuals  of  the  same  nationality  or  race  are  apt  to  be 
found.  Thus,  if  the  government  is  a  popular  one,  there  will  be 
found  in  the  public  prints  frequent  reference  to  the  German, 
the  Irish,  or  the  Jewish  vote.  If  there  is  a  distinction  of  religion 
one  finds  in  the  same  way  references  to  the  Roman  Catholic  or 
the  Protestant  vote.  "Where  racial  and  religious  differences 
coincide  the  strength  of  the  class  distinctions  and  feelings  will 
be  greater.  If  there  is  a  great  inequality  in  the  distribution 
of  wealth  or  a  marked  division  of  the  people  into  taxpaying 
and  non-taxpaying  voters  we  are  apt  to  find  organizations  of  tax- 
payers who  oppose,  from  a  purely  selfish  point  of  view,  expendi- 


38  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

tures  demanded  by  the  non-taxpaying  classes,  who  may  through 
their  votes  control  the  political  situation  in  the  city,  and  because 
of  the  fact  that  they  do  not  directly  pay  taxes  advocate  the 
expenditure  of  city  money  without  sufficient  regard  for  the 
financial  resources  of  the  city. 

City  life  with  its  individualism  and  heterogeneity  would  seem 
thus  to  further  the  development  of  individual  and  class  interests 
rather  than  a  true  social  idealism. 

Third.  City  populations  have  as  compared  with  rural  popu- 
lations no  historical  associations  with  the  cities  in  which  they 
live.  Neighborhood  feeling  is  not  likely  to  be  strong. 

Fourth.  Being  composed  in  large  measure  of  young  people 
or  people  of  middle  life,  city  populations  are  radical  rather  than 
conservative  in  their  tendencies ;  they  are  impulsive  rather  than 
reflective  and  are  considerably  more  inclined  than  rural  popula- 
tions not  to  have  regard  for  the  rights  of  private  property. 

Fifth.  City  populations  are  more  productive  than  .rural 
populations.  They  can,  therefore,  endure  a  higher  rate  of 
taxation.  With  the  greater  productivity  they  also  contain  prob- 
ably a  smaller  proportion  of  the  dependent  classes,  though  the 
presence  in  cities  of  such  a  large  percentage  of  widows  brings 
it  about  that  there  will  be  a  large  dependent  class  due  to  the 
death  of  the  principal  breadwinner  of  the  family. 

Sixth.  City  populations  contain  a  greater  proportion  of 
criminals  than  the  rural  districts,  but  there  are  reasons  for  be- 
lieving that  on  the  whole  they  are  not  much,  if  any,  less  virtuous 
than  rural  populations. 

Seventh.  City  populations  are  better  educated  than  rural 
in  the  sense  that  a  greater  proportion  of  city  than  of  country 
people  can  read  and  write  and  that  their  distinctly  literary 
educational  opportunities  are  greater.  Because  of  their  indus- 
trial character  they  are  probably  less  capable  of  taking  broad 
views  than  countrymen,  since  the  factory  system  which  has  so 
universally  been  adopted  in  cities  tends,  on  account  of  the 
minute  division  of  labor  which  is  its  accompaniment,  to  cultivate 
expertness  in  narrow  lines  rather  than  breadth  of  view. 

In  the  city  so  much  is  done  for  the  city  dweller  as  a  result 
of  some  sort  of  social  action  in  which  the  individual  partici- 


CHARACTER  OF  CITY  POPULATIONS  39 

pates,  if  at  all,  only  in  a  very  indirect  way,  that  he  may  easily 
lose  his  capacity  for  action.  Thus,  if  he  desires  to  go  from 
one  part  of  the  city  to  another,  a  public  conveyance  of  some  sort 
is  at  hand  to  take  him  a  part,  if  not  all,  of  his  journey.  If  a 
fire  breaks  out,  a  professional  force  is  at  hand  to  put  it  out.  If 
disorder  breaks  out,  again  a  professional  police  is  ready  to  put  it 
down ;  and  so  we  might  go  on.  Hence,  mere  life  in  cities  tends 
to  cultivate  a  certain  helplessness. 

Eighth.  Property  is  much  more  unequally  distributed  in  the 
cities  than  in  the  rural  districts.  More  very  wealthy  and  more 
very  poor  people  are  found  than  in  the  country  districts. 

Ninth.  Family  life  is  different  in  the  cities  from  family  life 
in  the  rural  districts.  In  large  cities  a  large  part  of  the  popula- 
tion is  often  crowded  together.  In  industrial  cities  where  a 
large  proportion  of  married  women  work  in  factories,  the 
family  does  not  properly  discharge  its  most  important  function, 
viz,,  the  care  and  nurture  of  the  children,  and  the  rate  of  infant 
mortality  is  very  high. 

Tenth.  Although  it  was  formerly  a  fact  that  the  cities  were 
less  healthful  than  the  country,  in  recent  years  the  reverse  is 
coming  to  be  true,  so  that  it  may  be  said  that  the  cities  contain 
more  than  their  due  proportion  of  the  most  vigorous  part  of 
the  population. 

Effect  on  Political  Problems.  These  characteristics  of  urban 
populations  should  be  borne  in  mind  in  discussing  the  political 
problems  connected  with  city  life,  for  unless  this  is  done  the 
successful  solution  of  these  problems  will  be  well  nigh  impossible. 

Furthermore,  it  must  always  be  remembered  that  because  of 
its  economic  conditions  the  character  of  the  population  of  a 
given  city  may  be  quite  different  from  that  of  another.  A 
solution  of  the  political  problems  of  one  city  may  be  quite 
successful,  but  the  attempt  to  apply  the  same  methods  in  some 
other  city  may  be  followed  by  failure  simply  because  the  con- 
ditions of  its  population  are  different. 

The  political  problems  of  cities  may  be  classified  under  three 
main  heads : 

First.     The  position  of  the  city  as  an  organ  of  government. 

Second.     The  functions  of  a  social  character  which  must  be 


40  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

discharged  in  a  city  because  of  the  character  of  its  population. 

Third.  The  organization  to  be  adopted  for  the  discharge  of 
the  functions  which  must  be  discharged  by  the  city  in  its  po- 
litical capacity. 

Effect  on  the  Political  Position  of  the  City.  The  conditions 
of  a  city's  population  have  an  important  bearing  on  all  these 
questions.  Thus,  the  solution  of  the  problems  connected  with 
the  position  of  the  city  in  the  governmental  system  is  dependent 
upon  the  determination  of  the  question  whether  the  population 
of  a  special  city  is  fitted  to  take  upon  its  shoulders  the  burden 
of  conducting  the  government  of  the  city.  And  because  we 
may  decide  that  the  conditions  existing  in  certain  cities  or 
classes  of  cities  are  such  that  local  self-government  may  wisely 
be  permitted,  it  by  no  means  follows  that  the  same  rule  is  to 
be  applied  to  all  cities.  Again,  what  may  be  proper  for  the 
cities  of  one  country  may  not  be  proper  for  the  cities  of  another 
country  where,  for  one  reason  or  another,  the  conditions  of 
urban  life  are  different.  Therefore  a  comparative  study  of 
municipal  institutions  must  be  pursued  with  due  regard  to  the 
actual  conditions  existing  in  the  cities  of  different  countries  as 
ascertained  by  observation  and  statistical  investigation,  and  con- 
clusions derived  from  an  examination  of  specific  sets  of  condi- 
tions may  be  applied  to  other  sets  of  conditions  only  after  hesi- 
tation and  with  great  caution. 

Effect  on  the  Functions  of  Cities.  What  is  true  of  the  first 
set  of  problems  is  just  as  true  of  the  second.  The  social  func- 
tions which  must  be  discharged  in  a  particular  city  or  class  of 
cities  must  depend  upon  the  character  of  its  or  their  popula- 
tion. A  city,  a  large  proportion  of  whose  families  live  in  their 
own  homes,  may  be  entrusted  with  the  exercise  of  larger  powers 
of  taxation  and  borrowing  money  than  one  in  which  there  is  a 
small  percentage  of  home-owners,  particularly  if  the  main  tax 
is  imposed  on  the  owner  and  not  on  the  occupier.  Where  there 
is  a  large  proportion  of  voters  who  do  not  knowingly  feel  the 
consequences  of  their  extravagance,  extravagance  is  likely  to 
occur. 

Again,  a  city  where  many  of  the  married  women  are  engaged 
in  occupations  which  take  them  daily  away  from  their  homes 


CHARACTER  OF  CITY  POPULATIONS  41 

must  ultimately,  if  no  remedy  for  such  a  state  of  things  is  found 
through  private  initiative,  extend  its  activity  so  as  to  care  for 
the  young  children  who  will  otherwise  die  of  neglect. 

A  city  whose  inhabitants  are  crowded  together,  where  many 
are  living  in  one  dwelling  as  a  rule,  must  exercise  large  powers 
in  the  domain  of  public  health  administration,  if  the  spread  of 
contagious  diseases  is  to  be  prevented,  and  conditions  favorable 
to  health  in  general  are  to  be  secured. 

In  either  of  the  contingencies  just  noted  the  city  must  extend 
the  activity  of  its  school  system  so  as  to  do  for  its  older  children, 
through  school  playgrounds,  roof  gardens  and  similar  institu- 
tions, what  they  might  secure  for  themselves  or  through  the 
family  and  the  home  were  conditions  different. 

Effect  on  the  Municipal  Organization.  Finally,  the  character 
of  a  city's  population  must  have  an  effect  upon  its  actual  gov- 
ernmental organization.  The  word  "actual"  is  used  advisedly, 
since  the  formal  organization  with  which  the  law  may  have 
provided  a  city  under  a  mistaken  idea  that  this  organization 
is  suited  to  its  conditions  will  be  so  modified  by  the  play  of 
extra-legal  forces  that  the  real  governmental  system  will  be  quite 
different  from  the  one  incorporated  in  the  law  and  studied  by 
the  ordinary  student  of  municipal  affairs.  If  boss  rule  tends 
to  develop  in  the  conditions  to  be  found  in  modern  cities,  real 
boss  rule  will  be  found,  however  democratic  the  legal  form  of 
the  government  may  be. 

Now,  it  is  often  the  case  that  where  the  real  governmental 
system  differs  from  the  system  which  is  theoretically  in  exist- 
ence, evils  develop  which  most  seriously  impair  the  efficient 
administration  of  city  affairs.  The  development  of  these  evils 
is  due  in  large  degree  to  the  fact  that  methods  adopted  in  the 
formal  system  to  ensure  the  realization  of  the  popular  will  and 
official  responsibility  for  acts  of  government  are  not  of  such  a 
character  as  to  realize  the  ends  sought  in  the  system  of  gov- 
ernment which  actually  exists.  If,  however,  the  formal  system 
of  government  has  due  regard  for  the  conditions  existing  in 
the  city,  the  endeavor  will  have  been  made  to  obtain  in  the  first 
place  a  clear  understanding  of  urban  conditions  as  urban  condi- 
tions, and  not  as  merely  a  fractional  part  of  general  social  condi- 


42  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

tions,  and  to  provide  a  governmental  organization  suited  to  these 
conditions.  The  attempt  will  not  have  been  made,  for  example, 
to  give  a  city  a  system  of  government  which  is  a  mere  copy  in 
miniature  of  the  kind  of  government  adopted  for  the  state  at 
large,  nor  to  base  the  government  of  the  city  upon  the  principle 
of  universal  suffrage  merely  because  that  principle  has  been 
adopted  in  the  government  of  the  country  as  a  whole.  The  con- 
ditions in  the  country  as  a  whole  may  be  quite  different  from 
those  in  the  city  as  to  equality  in  the  distribution  of  wealth  as 
well  as  in  other  respects.  Or,  if  it  is  considered  that  the  prin- 
ciple of  universal  suffrage  is  so  firmly  imbedded  in  the  feelings 
of  the  people  as  to  make  the  idea  of  changing  it  in  any  way 
incapable  of  realization  in  the  near  future,  the  attempt  will  have 
been  made  so  to  arrange  the  system  of  taxation  that  the  great- 
est possible  number  of  voters  personally  pay  taxes  and  know 
when  they  pay  them  in  order  that  the  development  of  classes 
of  taxpaying  and  non-taxpaying  voters  be  so  far  as  possible 
prevented. 

The  Problem  Presented.  Enough  has  been  said,  it  is  believed, 
to  show  how  necessary  it  is  that  the  governmental  system  ob- 
taining in  a  city  be  suited  to  the  conditions  of  life  in  the  city. 
The  question  now  comes  up:  What  in  a  general  way  is  the 
form  of  government  suited  to  urban  conditions  as  they  present 
themselves  in  most  cities?  While  the  question  as  stated  makes 
no  allowance  for  peculiar  local  conditions  it  is  believed  that 
we  can  outline  a  system  of  government  suited  for  most  cities, 
which  by  emphasizing  only  the  usual  needs  of  city  life,  may  be 
made  so  general  in  character,  that  it  may  by  local  action  be 
adapted  to  the  local  and  peculiar  needs  of  a  particular  city. 

With  this  preliminary  explanation  let  us  then  consider  what 
sort  of  a  system  of  government  as  respects  state  relations,  form 
of  organization  and  social  functions  is  suited  to  urban  condi- 
tions in  general.  The  answer  to  this  question  is  difficult,  be- 
cause of  the  fact  that  as  yet  there  may  not  be  said  to  be  by 
any  means  a  universal  agreement  by  students  as  to  the  effect  of 
social  conditions  on  government  in  general.  Particularly  is  it 
true  that  no  such  agreement  exists  among  students  of  munic- 
ipal government  either  as  to  the  effect  of  urban  conditions  on 


CHAEACTEE  OF  CITY  POPULATIONS  43 

city  government,  or  even  as  to  the  significance  for  purposes  of 
city  charter-making  of  the  facts  as  to  city  conditions  revealed 
by  census  and  other  statistics.  Few  successful  attempts  have 
been  made  by  sociologists  or  others  to  formulate  what  has  been 
termed  the  psychology  of  society.  We  have  a  pretty  well- 
developed  individual  psychology,  but  the  science  of  social 
psychology  is  a  new  one,  and  such  results  as  have  been  obtained 
from  a  study  of  social  psychology  must  be  used  with  great 
care.  Laboratories  for  experimental  social  psychology  are  al- 
most impossible  of  establishment.  The  only  way,  therefore, 
in  which  the  inductive  method  may  be  used  is  to  study  the 
past.  Through  such  a  study  we  may  be  able  to  formulate  cer- 
tain general  principles,  which  may,  prima  facie,  have  much  to 
commend  them. 


THE   CITY-STATE 

REFERENCES  : 

Fairlie,  J.  A.,  "Municipal  Administration,"  Chaps.  I  and  II.  Howe, 
"The  Modern  City  and  Its  Problems,"  Chap.  II.  Coulanges,  F.  de,  "The 
Ancient  City,"  Bk.  Ill,  Chaps.  IX-XV.  Fowler,  W.  W.,  "The  City-State 
of  the  Greeks  and  Romans."  Dill,  S.,  "Roman  Society  from  Nero  to  Marcus 
Aurelius,"  pp.  196-250.  Dill,  S.,  "Roman  Society  in  the  Last  Century  of 
the  Western  Empire,"  pp.  227-81.  Rowe,  L.  S.,  "Problems  of  City  Gov- 
ernment," Chap.  II.  Giry,  A.  and  Reville,  A.,  "Emancipation  of  the  Me- 
dieval Towns."  Translation  by  Bates  and  Titsworth  of  Lavisse  et  Ram- 
baud,  "Histoire  Generale,"  Vol.  II,  Chap.  VIII.  Symonds,  J.  A.,  "The 
Renaissance  in  Italy,  The  Age  of  the  Despots,"  Chap.  IV.  Green,  Mrs. 
J.  R.,  "Town  Life  in  the  Fifteenth  Century,"  Chaps.  VI-X. 

Periods  in  Municipal  History.  The  different  positions  which 
the  city  has  held  in  European  political  society  may  be  classified 
under  three  general  heads,  corresponding  in  a  general  way  to 
successive  periods  of  time.  In  the  first  place  the  city  is  seen 
in  the  form  which  is  known  as  the  ' '  city-state. ' '  In  the  second 
place  it  is  found  as  an  administrative  district  of  a  larger  state, 
occupying  a  position  similar  to  that  of  other  administrative  dis- 
tricts, whether  urban  or  rural.  In  the  third  place  it  is  recog- 
nized as  possessing  certain  rights  of  local  government  peculiar 
to  itself  in  the  exercise  of  which  it  is  distinguished  from  other 
administrative  districts.  In  a  study  of  the  development  of  the 
city  with  particular  reference  to  its  relations  to  the  state, 
attention  will  first  be  given  to  its  position  as  a  city-state. 

The  City-State  Idea.  The  city-state  was  an  organization 
formed  by  people  for  the  most  part  descended  from  the  same 
stock  and  worshiping  the  same  gods  which  were  peculiar  to 
the  particular  state.  Indeed,  one  of  the  most  important  reasons 
for  their  organization  as  a  political  body  was  the  maintenance 
of  the  temples  and  altars  at  which  they  conducted  their  wor- 
ship.1 The  city-state  was  composed  of  both  urban  and  rural 

i  Cf .  Fowler,  "The  City-State  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans." 

44 


THE  CITY-STATE  45 

districts;  that  is,  in  the  city-state  no  distinction  was  made  be- 
cause of  the  presence  of  a  great  number  of  people  in  a  small 
area.  The  original  city-state,  indeed,  was  rather  rural  than 
urban  in  character,  but  the  natural  congregation  of  inhabitants 
about  the  temples  and  altars  had  the  result  of  causing  what 
bore  a  strong  resemblance  to  urban  conditions  in  different  parts 
of  the  territory.  Furthermore,  these  little  urban  communities, 
because  of  their  religious  significance,  occupied  a  leading  posi- 
tion in  the  whole  social  system.  The  political  power  in  the 
city-state  was,  therefore,  centered  in  the  urban  rather  than  in 
the  rural  districts.  While  the  city-state  was,  from  one  point 
of  view,  very  homogeneous  in  character  because  its  people  were 
in  large  measure  descended  from  the  same  stock,  there  was 
great  economic  and  social  heterogeneity  in  the  population  of 
most  such  communities.  This  was  due  to  slavery,  which  was 
the  labor  system  of  the  ancient  world,  and  to  the  existence  of 
two  very  distinct  social  classes,  such  as  were  known  in  Rome 
as  patricians  and  plebeians. 

Three  stages  or  periods  of  the  city-state,  so  far  as  it  has 
affected  modern  municipal  development,  may  be  seen: — viz.,  the 
Greek,  the  Roman  and  the  mediaeval. 

The  Greek  City-State.  Though  the  influence  which  Greek  con- 
ditions had  upon  the  development  of  city  government  was  chiefly 
exerted  through  the  adoption  of  Greek  ideas  into  the  Roman 
civilization,  reference  to  the  Greek  city-state  must  be  made. 
It  was  in  Greece  that  the  city  first  became  a  real  city-state. 
The  topography  of  the  country  discouraged  the  formation  of 
larger  political  areas  and  preserved  local  independence  long 
after  the  religious  bond  had  been  supplanted  by  political  and 
economic  unity.  Athens,  the  most  enlightened  as  well  as  the 
most  influential  among  the  Greek  states,  consisted,  at  the  height 
of  its  power,  of  the  mother  city  and  the  whole  district  of  Attica, 
rural  as  well  as  urban,  to  which  citizenship  had  been  extended. 
To  these  were  joined  by  bonds  which,  under  the  name  of  alli- 
ances, gave  Athens  supremacy  over  them,  the  cities  of  central 
Greece  and  of  the  Ionian  islands  and  a  considerable  area  on 
the  coast  of  Asia  Minor.  A  large  number  of  dependent  cities 
also  acknowledged  the  supremacy  of  Athens. 


46  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

In  Athens  were  perhaps  a  hundred  thousand  Athenian  citizens 
who  composed  the  democracy  of  Athens;  perhaps  a  third  as 
many  alien  residents,  and  a  hundred  thousand  slaves.  Po- 
litically the  aliens  and  slaves  had  no  existence  nor  could  they 
even  hope  to  become  citizens.  Power  was  vested  in  the  assembly 
of  Athenian  citizens  who  discussed  and  passed  upon  the  legis- 
lation presented  by  the  Council  of  Five  Hundred.  The  most 
important  magistrates  were  the  generals  who  were  invested  with 
the  essential  state  functions  of  war  and  foreign  relations.  On 
the  purely  municipal  side,  while  both  charity  and  education 
received  public  attention,  the  greatest  activity  was  manifested 
in  public  works.  The  allied  cities,  though  bound  to  Athens 
by  ties  of  race,  religion,  civilization  and  commerce,  remained 
distinct  city-states  living  their  own  separate  political  existence. 

The  City  in  the  Koman  Republic.  The  conquest  of  Italy  by 
the  city  of  Rome  was  in  large  measure  the  successive  subjuga- 
tion of  city-states  like  itself.  When  the  Roman  influence  had 
extended  through  Italy  there  were  at  first  three  kinds  of  munic- 
ipalities. There  were,  in  the  first  place,  what  were  called 
colonies,  which  had  been  founded  in  order  to  secure  the  obedience 
to  Rome  of  the  districts  in  which  they  were  founded.  The 
organization  of  these  was  modeled  on  that  of  the  mother  city. 
The  original  Roman  colonists  were  regarded  as  a  sort  of  privi- 
leged aristocracy,  similar  to  the  patricians  at  Rome.  By  the 
selection  of  the  most  prominent  of  them  there  was  formed  a 
body  which  came  to  be  known  as  the  curia,  similar  to  the  Roman 
senate.  By  the  side  of  this  curia  were  the  duumvirs,  officers 
who  resembled  the  Roman  consuls.  All  the  free  male  inhabit- 
ants formed  an  assembly  commonly  spoken  of  as  the  comitia. 

The  second  class  of  cities  was  that  of  the  municipia,  which 
possessed  in  varying  degree  rights  of  self-government,  the  differ- 
ences depending  upon  the  extent  to  which  the  inhabitants  of 
the  municipia  were  regarded  as  possessing  Roman  citizenship. 
The  third  class  was  that  of  the  allied  cities.  These  really  stood 
outside  the  Roman  state,  and  their  organization  was  governed 
by  their  own  local  conditions  and  laws.  Their  relation  to 
Rome  was  that  of  a  greater  or  less  degree  of  subordination. 
As  Rome  extended  her  influence  over  all  Italy  the  status  of 


THE  CITY-STATE  47 

these  cities  as  city-states  gave  way  and  they  tended  to  become 
merged  in  the  great  city-state  of  Rome.  The  first  important 
attempt  to  impose  upon  all  the  cities  of  Italy  a  universal  form 
of  municipal  organization  and  a  law  of  municipal  relations  of 
universal  application  is  to  be  found  in  the  Tabula  Heraclensis, 
supposed  by  Savigny  to  be  the  work  of  Julius  Caesar.  After 
this  law  was  enacted  Italy  was  divided  into  districts  known 
as  oppida.2  These  oppida  comprised,  as  did  the  old  Roman 
city-state,  urban  communities  proper  and  smaller  adjacent  com- 
munities, which,  where  they  were  urban  in  character,  were 
known  as  viri,  or  castella,  and  the  rural  communities  known 
as  pagi.  The  organization  of  this  type  of  urban  community 
was  thus  very  like  that  found  in  the  original  city  of  Rome  and 
in  the  colonies  which  Rome  established. 

The  City  in  the  Early  Empire.  During  the  first  two  centuries 
of  the  empire  the  cities,  as  a  result  of  the  formation  of  the 
imperial  government,  lost  the  remnants  of  their  political  inde- 
pendence. The  conception  of  government  had  changed  so  that 
the  city-state  had  now  become  merely  a  part  of  a  greater  system. 
During  this  period,  however,  the  cities  of  Italy  enjoyed  great 
prosperity,  due  in  large  measure  to  the  development  by  the 
Roman  jurists  of  the  idea  of  the  juristic  personality  of  the  city. 
This  conception  of  juristic  personality  permitted  them  to  hold 
large  amounts  of  property  of  their  own,  and  to  live  a  life  which, 
from  many  points  of  view,  was  separate  and  apart  from  that 
of  the  Roman  state  as  a  whole. 

The  heterogeneous  character  of  the  population  of  the  cities, 
to  which  allusion  has  been  made,  was,  after  Rome  became 
predominant  throughout  the  Mediterranean  world,  greater  than 
before.  This  was  due  to  the  greater  freedom  of  migration  which 
was  possible  to  all  nationalities  and  races  of  the  Mediterranean 
basin,  and  because  of  the  great  number  of  alien  slaves  brought 
into  the  Italian  peninsula.  Since  this  heterogeneity  made  social 
cooperation  more  difficult,  we  find  that  during  these  two  cen- 
turies the  municipal  organization  showed  a  marked  tendency 
to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  property  owning  classes.  There 

2  Liebenam,  "Stadteverwaltung  im  Romischen  Kaiserreiche,"  p.  452. 


48  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

appeared  a  class  spoken  of  as  the  possessores,  i.e.,  the  owners 
of  the  greatest  amounts  of  property,  who  were  gradually  able 
to  exclude  the  rest  of  the  people  from  all  participation  in  the 
government.  The  curia,  which,  it  has  been  seen,  was  the  aristo- 
cratic part  of  the  municipal  organization,  finally  became  heredi- 
tary, and  all  the  offices  of  honor  in  the  cities  were  filled  by  the 
election  of  members  of  this  class.  Through  its  power  of  self- 
perpetuation,  of  appointing  municipal  officers,  and  of  passing 
resolutions  with  regard  to  municipal  matters,  this  group  finally 
obtained  absolute  and  complete  control  of  the  municipal  govern- 
ment. 

The  Cities  in  the  Later  Empire.  The  general  degeneration 
of  the  social  organization  which  was  characteristic  of  the  later 
Roman  Empire  naturally  had  its  effect  on  the  prosperity  of  the 
cities.  The  gradual  accumulation  of  almost  all  property  in  the 
hands  of  an  aristocracy,  which  obtained  political  power  and 
used  it  for  its  own  benefit  and  against  the  interests  of  the  great 
masses  of  the  people,  brought  it  about  that  prosperity  decreased 
and  the  population  declined:  declined  notwithstanding  the  va- 
rious legislative  devices  to  which  resort  was  had  in  order  to 
encourage  marriages  and  large  families.  Naturally  the  city 
governments  lost  much  of  their  original  vigor,  and  because  of 
their  inability  to  discharge  the  duties  imposed  upon  them,  as 
well  as  because  of  the  centralization  of  social  conditions  gener- 
ally, the  central  government  of  the  Empire  began  to  exercise 
greater  and  greater  control  over  them.  The  control  of  the  cen- 
tral government  reached  its  culmination  in  the  imperial  admin- 
istrative system  originated  by  Diocletian  and  perfected  by  Con- 
stantine.  In  accordance  with  this  system  the  civil  administra- 
tion of  the  Empire  was  so  arranged  that  the  entire  Roman 
Empire,  apart  from  Rome  and  Constantinople,  was  divided  up 
into  four  districts  known  as  Praetorian  Prefectures.  The  pre- 
fectures were  divided  into  districts  known  as  dioceses  and  each 
diocese  was  divided  into  provinces.  At  the  head  of  each  pre- 
fecture was  a  Praetorian  Prefect;  at  the  head  of  the  diocese 
was  a  Vicar;  in  each  of  the  provinces  was  an  officer  subordi- 
nate to  the  Vicar,  who  was  known  by  different  names  in  the 
different  prefectures,  but  who  commonly  bore  the  title  of  Presi 


THE  CITY-STATE  49 

dent  or  Rector.  These  officers  were  all  appointed  by  the  central 
government.  Each  province  was  divided  into  districts  which 
had  different  names  in  the  different  prefectures.  In  Italy  they 
were  called  oppida,  in  the  other  prefectures  they  were  usually 
known  as  civitates.  These  districts  contained,  as  before,  both 
urban  and  rural  communities,  between  which  no  distinction  was 
made.  Being  the  undermost  members  of  the  system,  they  had 
to  bear  the  burden  of  a  very  expensive  administrative  system. 
This  burden  was  increased  by  the  fact  that  by  exemption  from 
taxation  Constantino  favored  the  military  class  as  well  as  the 
officers  of  the  Christian  church,  which  he  had  recognized.  Fur- 
thermore Constantine  did  not  hesitate  to  take  from  the  oppida 
much  of  the  property  from  whose  income  the  expenses  of  their 
administration  had  been  defrayed  in  order  to  endow  the  Christian 
churches  and  corporations,  and  to  aid  in  building  up  the  new 
capital  of  Constantinople,  to  which  he  devoted  so  much  of  his 
energy. 

The  endeavor  to  obtain  the  money  necessary  for  the  imperial 
government  had  as  a  result  that  the  hereditary  officials  in  the 
cities,  namely,  the  members  of  the  curia,  were  made  pecun- 
iarily responsible  for  the  performance  of  the  corporate  duties 
of  the  city  and  were  forbidden  by  law  to  leave  the  city  without 
the  consent  of  the  Rector,  or  President,  of  the  province,  as 
it  was  feared  that  by  leaving  they  would  escape  this  burden, 
which  finally  came  to  be  regarded  as  intolerable. 

The  cities  thus  fell  from  the  proud  position  of  independence 
which  they  originally  occupied  as  city-states,  and  became  merely 
administrative  districts  of  a  larger  government.  They  were 
made  use  of  by  that  government  in  order  to  further  the  interests 
of  the  state  as  a  whole  rather  than  those  of  the  cities  themselves. 
The  whole  municipal  organization  was  put  into  the  control  of 
a  few  persons,  since  a  compact  local  organization  and  a  well- 
defined  financial  responsibility  facilitated  the  collection  of  the 
state  taxes. 

This  complete  degeneration  of  municipal  administration 
caused  a  series  of  attempts  to  be  made  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
imperial  period  to  reorganize  the  city.  Space  forbids  us  to 
dwell  upon  them  and  all  that  will  be  said  with  regard  to  this 


50  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

matter  is  that  everywhere  throughout  the  Roman  Empire  the 
bishop  of  the  Christian  church  came,  as  a  result  of  these  attempts 
at  reorganization,  to  occupy  a  position  of  great  importance  in 
the  cities.  The  influence  of  the  bishop  was  particularly  marked 
both  in  Italy  and  in  the  older  parts  of  Germany,  which  became 
subject  in  this  respect  to  Roman  influence.  It  was  due,  after 
the  Franks  came  into  power,  first,  to  the  grant  to  the  bishop 
of  judicial  power  over  the  members  of  his  household  and,  second, 
to  the  fact  that  the  bishop  became  a  feudal  lord. 

Rise  of  Walled  Cities.  The  invasion  of  the  Roman  Empire 
by  the  Germans  had  important  effects  upon  municipal  life, 
but  for  a  long  time  the  cities  remained  merely  administrative 
divisions  of  the  larger  state.  In  the  period  during  which  the 
Pax  Romano,  existed,  urban  communities  were  of  no  importance 
as  fortified  places.  It  was  unnecessary  in  the  peaceful  con- 
ditions which  existed  throughout  the  Roman  world  for  any  par- 
ticular attention  to  be  given  to  the  fortification  of  towns.  The 
Roman  system  of  architecture,  as  we  find  it  in  most  of  the 
Roman  cities  outside  of  Rome,  where  the  enormous  population 
combined  with  the  topography  of  the  district  brought  about  ex- 
ceptional conditions,  shows  how  cities  were,  if  some  other  con- 
sideration did  not  come  into  play,  spread  over  a  large  area. 
The  great  extent  of  cities  permitted  the  building  of  low  one- 
or  two-storied  houses.  Pompeii  is  a  good  example  of  such  cities. 
We  have,  it  is  true,  in  Pompeii  several  instances  of  two-storied 
houses,  but  never  the  high  buildings  which  were  to  be  found 
in  Rome  itself,  and  which  seem  to  be  characteristic  of  the 
mediaeval  city. 

"With  the  dissolution  of  the  Roman  Empire,  however,  and  the 
consequent  decay  of  the  Pax  Romana,  conditions  of  disorder 
became  so  universal  that  the  people  of  the  cities  had  to  build 
fortifications  in  order  to  defend  themselves  against  the  ravages 
of  robbers  and  the  incursions  of  the  Germans.  The  first  indica- 
tion of  the  necessity  of  such  fortifications  in  Italian  cities  is 
noticeable  in  the  days  of  the  Lombards.  Urban  communities 
which  were  surrounded  by  a  wall  were  distinguishable  from 
the  communities  which  were  outside  of  the  wall  also  in  that 
part  of  Europe  which  came  to  be  known  as  France,  where  the 


THE  CITY-STATE  51 

same  conditions  brought  about  the  same  results.  We  find  the 
cities  which  continued  in  existence  in  this  part  of  Europe  during 
this  period  of  disorder  of  very  much  less  territorial  extent 
than  the  old  Roman  cities  in  which  they  claimed  their  origin. 
In  many  other  cases  urban  districts  which  did  not  date  so  far 
back  as  the  Roman  period  grew  up  in  close  connection  with 
fortified  places,  so  that  it  is  said  that  of  five  hundred  French 
cities  all  but  eighty-four  originated,  for  the  most  part,  in  for- 
tified villages.  In  both  Germany  and  England  the  presence  of 
fortifications  was  an  important  factor  in  the  development  of 
municipal  life.  Indeed,  the  word  borough,  which  is  the  local 
name  in  England  for  what  we  call  a  city,  meant  originally  a 
fortified  place.  The  existence  of  these  fortifications  had  an 
important  effect  later  in  bringing  about  a  congestion  of  popula- 
tion. It  being  impossible  to  fortify  a  district  so  large  as  that 
which  in  the  days  of  peace  had  been  occupied  by  the  Roman 
city,  it  became  necessary  for  the  houses  to  be  built  higher  and 
higher.  The  architectural  customs  of  mediaeval  Europe  have 
thus  had  an  important  influence  on  modern  urban  life. 

Lack  of  Political  Distinction.  Inasmuch  as  the  Germans  who 
invaded  and  ultimately  controlled  the  Roman  Empire  had  a 
dislike  for  urban  life,  cities  were  not  at  first  established  by  them. 
Indeed,  the  establishment  of  cities  was  not  favored  by  the 
existing  economic  conditions.  The  carrying  on  of  commerce 
during  the  disorder  which  followed  the  breaking  up  of  the 
Roman  Empire  being  extremely  difficult,  it  was  difficult,  if  not 
impossible,  for  new  populations  distinctly  urban  to  develop, 
though  the  older  cities  which  still  continued  in  existence  retained 
their  former  position.  These  were  incorporated  into  the  or- 
dinary administrative  districts  and  were  subjected  to  the  rule 
of  the  ordinary  administrative  officers,  i.e.,  the  dukes  during 
the  period  of  Lombard  supremacy,  and  later,  the  counts  of  the 
Franks.  The  physical  distinction  between  urban  and  rural  dis- 
tricts, due  to  the  fortification  of  strong  places,  did  not  thus 
immediately  cause  a  distinction  of  a  political  character  to  be 
made  between  urban  and  rural  districts.  Such  a  political  dis- 
tinction was,  however,  soon  made.  With  the  establishment  of 
the  feudal  system,  which  brought  about  reasonable  conditions 


52  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

of  peace,  commerce  began  again  to  spring  up.  Italy,  being  the 
most  highly  civilized  part  of  the  European  world,  felt  the 
effects  of  the  commercial  revival  first.  Urban  population  began 
to  increase  both  in  numbers  and  in  wealth,  and  this  change 
in  economic  conditions  soon  brought  about  a  change  in  political 
conditions. 

Rise  of  Municipal  Government  in  Italy.  Attention  has  been 
called  to  the  important  position  which  the  bishop  occupied  in 
the  later  imperial  municipal  system.  The  bishops  had,  like- 
wise, in  many  instances  taken  a  place  of  political  prominence  in 
the  feudal  system  and  were  for  the  most  part  residents  of  the 
urban  communities  where  were  to  be  found  the  cathedrals  and 
great  churches  which  were  the  outward  evidence  of  the  bishops' 
power.  The  first  attempts  of  the  municipal  populations  to 
obtain  a  greater  independence  of  the  power  of  the  feudal  offi- 
cers was  furthered  by  the  bishops.  In  many  cases  in  Italy 
the  count  was  expelled  from  the  city,  which  thereafter  attached 
itself  to  the  bishop,  who  was  aided  in  his  government  of  the 
town  by  the  richer  commercial  classes.  To  them  was  given 
in  Italy  the  name  of  popolo.  As  Mr.  Symonds  says :  ' '  Inter- 
preting the  past  by  the  present,  and  importing  the  connotation 
gained  by  the  word  'People'  in  the  revolutions  of  the  last 
two  centuries,  students  are  apt  to  assume  that  the  popolo  of 
the  Italian  burghs  included  the  whole  population.  In  reality 
it  was  at  first  a  class  aristocracy  of  influential  officers  to  whom 
the  authority  of  the  superseded  count  was  transferred  in  com- 
mission and  who  held  it  by  hereditary  right. ' ' 3  The  whole 
subsequent  history  of  the  cities  of  Italy  centers  around  the  de- 
mand for  the  enlargement  of  the  popolo. 

The  struggles  resulting  from  the  attempt  of  the  less  wealthy 
classes  on  the  one  hand  to  gain  admission  to  the  popolo,  and  the 
resistance  offered  by  the  wealthier  classes  on  the  other  to  this  de- 
mand, combined  with  the  struggles  between  the  Emperor  and  the 
Pope,  brought  about  conditions  of  great  disorder  in  the  Italian 
cities.  The  final  result  of  the  struggle  was  the  disappearance  of 
the  bishop  as  a  political  authority  and  the  development  of  a  very 

3  Symonds,  "Renaissance  in  Italy :  Age  of  the  Despots,"  p.  54. 


THE  CITY-STATE  53 

despotic  government.  The  only  important  exception  was  Venice, 
where  the  commercial  and  property  owning  oligarchy  retained 
and  even  increased  its  power.  The  despot  first  appeared  in 
Ferrara  in  1208  under  the  name  of  "Captain  of  the  People," 
who  became  in  most  cases  hereditary.  The  despotism  gradually 
developed  two  distinct  forms.  In  some  cases  the  old  institutions 
remained  in  formal  existence  but  were  manipulated  by  some 
family  of  influence  which  controlled  the  city.  An  example  of 
this  form  is  Florence,  which  was  controlled  by  the  Medici. 
In  other  cases  the  older  institutions  disappeared  and  the  gov- 
ernment was  avowedly  despotic.  This  was  the  case  in  Milan, 
which  was  controlled  at  first  by  the  Visconti  and  later  by  the 
Sforzas.  Through  this  course  of  development  by  which  they 
had  freed  themselves  from  the  control  of  feudal  officers,  the 
Italian  cities  again  assumed  an  independent  position  somewhat 
of  the  nature  of  city-states. 

Before  the  development  of  the  ' '  Captain  of  the  People, ' '  most 
of  the  Italian  cities  had  established  officers  known  as  ' '  Consuls, ' ' 
unquestionably  named  after  the  old  Roman  officials,  under  whose 
rule  the  law  merchant  and  probably  other  parts  of  the  Roman 
law,  which  had  much  greater  adaptability  than  the  feudal  law 
to  the  demands  of  the  commerce  then  springing  up,  were  in- 
troduced in  the  Italian  cities.  Ordeal  and  duel,  which  were 
important  means  of  legal  proof  in  the  feudal  law,  were  not 
suited  to  the  legal  relations  arising  out  of  commercial  transac- 
tions. 

A  competition  largely  of  a  commercial  character  between  the 
various  Italian  cities  resulted  in  internecine  wars.  As  a  result 
of  these  wars  certain  cities  were  subjected  to  the  control  of 
others,  so  that  out  of  the  union  of  what  were  almost  city-states 
resulted  larger  states,  and  the  city  in  many  cases  again  fell  into 
the  position  of  a  subordinate  member  of  a  larger  state.  Milan 
and  Florence  suffered  this  fate,  while  Venice  and  Genoa  were 
able  to  continue  as  city-states  until  quite  late  in  the  history  of 
Europe. 

Development  of  German  Episcopal  Cities.  A  development 
somewhat  similar  to  that  in  Italy  took  place  in  that  part  of 
Europe  which  has  come  to  be  called  Germany.  During  the 


54  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

Roman  occupation  that  part  of  modern  Germany  which  lay  west 
of  the  Rhine  as  well  as  south  of  the  Danube  was  Christianized, 
and  in  most  of  the  urban  communities  which  owed  their  origin 
to  Rome,  such  as  Cologne  and  Vienna,  there  were,  at  the  time 
the  Germans  overran  the  country,  bishops  of  the  Christian 
church.  The  Franks,  who  ultimately  came  to  control  this  re- 
gion as  well  as  Italy  and  Gaul,  were  favorably  inclined  to  the 
Christian  church,  and  granted  its  bishops  in  Germany  as  well  as 
in  Italy  important  political  privileges.  Also  certain  urban  dis- 
tricts, like  Aix-la-Chapelle,  were  the  residences  of  the  Frankish 
kings.  Wherever  such  a  royal  residence  existed  there  were 
appointed  officers  known  as  Palatine  officers,  or  officers  of  the 
palace,  who,  like  the  bishop,  possessed  a  jurisdiction  over  their 
immediate  subordinates.  These  two  exceptional  jurisdictions 
existed  at  first  alongside  of  that  of  the  count  or  other  feudal 
officer. 

By  the  time  of  the  fall  of  the  Carolingian  empire,  several 
causes  were  leading  to  the  development  of  a  community  life 
in  the  municipality  different  from  the  life  outside.  These 
causes  were :  First,  In  accordance  with  the  general  principles  of 
German  judicial  organization,  the  free  population  of  the  cities 
participated  in  the  administration  of  justice  through  officers 
chosen  from  among  them,  known  in  the  early  Carolingian  period 
as  Scabini.4  Second,  In  the  distinctly  urban  communities  in 
Germany  which  were,  as  in  Italy  and  France,  surrounded  by 
walls,  there  developed  the  idea  of  a  city  peace  in  accordance 
with  which  any  person  living  within  the  city  walls  had  a  claim 
to  special  protection  against  violence  and  wrong.  Third,  As  a 
result  of  the  increasing  importance  which  was  accorded  to  the 
bishops,  these  officers,  formerly  almost  exclusively  ecclesiastical, 
succeeded  in  usurping  the  powers  of  the  regular  officers  of  the 
royal  administration.  In  this  way  most  of  the  important  cities 
in  the  older  portions  of  Germany  came  to  be  governed  by  bishops 
occupying  a  well  recognized  feudal  position.  By  these  means 
the  urban  fortified  communities,  maintaining  their  own  peace, 

*  The  same  officer  is  seen  in  the  German  Schoffen  and  the  French 
Echevins. 


THE  CITY-STATE  55 

doing  justice  through  their  own  officers  and  governed  by  bishops, 
were  already  distinguished  from  the  rural  unfortified  com- 
munities remaining  under  the  jurisdiction  of  counts  and  other 
feudal  officials. 

Conditions  of  comparative  peace  were  brought  about  in  Ger- 
many as  in  Italy  through  the  general  acceptance  of  feudalism 
as  a  system  of  government.  Commerce  also  began  to  develop. 
The  most  important  routes  of  travel  to  central  Europe  were 
from  the  Italian  cities  in  the  north  of  Italy  over  the  Alps  to  the 
Rhine  and  Danube  and  down  these  rivers,  particularly  the  Rhine. 
The  development  of  commerce  along  the  Rhine  resulted  in  a 
great  increase  in  the  number  and  wealth  of  the  urban  communi- 
ties of  the  Rhine  valley.  The  immediate  result  of  their 
increase  in  importance  was  a  struggle  for  greater  municipal 
independence.  In  this  struggle  the  urban  communities  were 
aided  by  the  crown,  which  was  willing  to  do  anything  in  order 
to  curb  the  pretensions  of  the  feudal  nobility,  among  whom 
were  included  the  bishops  in  control  of  the  cities.  The  crown 
in  pursuance  of  this  policy  granted  to  the  urban  communities 
many  privileges  and  charters.  Some  of  these  privileges  were 
merely  of  a  commercial  character,  as  for  example,  freedom  from 
tolls  and  market  rights.  In  some  cases  they  were  political  privi- 
leges, relieving  the  inhabitants  from  the  control  of  the  bishops. 
One  of  the  most  important  was  the  principle  that  the  ' '  air  makes 
free,"  which  came  to  be  recognized  as  meaning  that  residence 
within  the  limits  of  a  city  for  a  year  and  a  day  relieved  the 
person  so  residing  from  all  political  dependence  on  any  feudal 
superior  outside  of  the  city.  The  effect  of  the  recognition  of 
this  principle  was  to  encourage  migration  to  the  cities  from  the 
rural  communities,  where  serfdom  with  all  its  accompaniments 
existed. 

Rise  of  Municipal  Independence  in  Germany.  The  struggle 
which  the  citizens  of  the  episcopal  cities  entered  into  with  the 
bishops  emphasized  the  idea  of  a  community  of  interest  among 
the  people  of  the  city,  and  the  citizens  of  the  city  began  to  speak 
of  themselves  as  cives,  urbani,  ~burgenses,  civitatenses.  Closely 
connected  with  the  movement  was  the  organization  into  guilds 
of  the  merchant  classes  who  really  had  the  power  in  the  cities. 


56  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

These  guilds  in  many  cities  exercised  an  important  political 
influence,  and  soon  there  developed  an  organ  which  represented 
the  people  more  effectively  than  they  could  be  represented 
through  the  scabini.  The  body  which  was  thus  developed  came 
to  be  known  as  the  council,  and  ultimately  succeeded  in  obtain- 
ing a  general  judicial  power  and  exercised  a  supervision  over 
all  the  work  of  the  city  to  which  it  did  not  itself  attend.  The 
climax  of  this  development  was  reached  in  the  establishment  of 
the  office  of  Burgomaster,  or  master  of  the  citizens,  which,  as 
a  general  thing,  was  developed  out  of  the  presidency  of  the 
council. 

From  an  early  time  and  largely  owing  to  the  missionary 
efforts  of  the  German  kings  in  the  conversion  of  the  heathen 
Germans  on  the  east  of  the  Rhine  and  the  north  of  the  Danube, 
cities  had  sprung  up  in  these  districts  which,  like  the  older 
cities,  were  made  the  seats  of  episcopal  power.  In  these  cities 
the  development  was  similar  to  that  in  the  older  parts  of  Ger- 
many which  has  just  been  noticed.  The  development  in  these 
episcopal  cities  on  both  sides  of  the  Rhine  had  a  great  influence 
also  upon  other  cities  which  had  never  been  the  seats  of  bishops. 
The  conditions  here  were  such  that  a  development  similar  to  that 
in  the  episcopal  cities  appears  to  have  taken  place  without  the 
struggles  so  common  between  the  population  of  the  episcopal 
cities  and  the  bishops.  In  many  cases  such  cities  were  estab- 
lished in  the  domains  of  feudal  lords,  as  for  example,  in  Branden- 
burg. These  lords  were  very  desirous  that  cities  should  thus  be 
established  in  order  that  their  own  power  and  revenue  might 
be  increased.  From  the  very  beginning  they  seem  to  have 
granted  very  large  privileges  to  those  who  should  undertake  the 
founding  of  cities.  At  the  time  of  their  foundation  these  were 
permitted  to  incorporate  into  their  organization  the  principles 
the  development  of  which  in  the  case  of  the  episcopal  cities  has 
already  been  noticed. 

Imperial  Free  Cities.  Everywhere  throughout  Germany  in  the 
twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries,  which  were  times  of  great 
commercial  expansion  and  prosperity,  the  cities,  whether  epis- 
copal or  not,  endeavored  to  obtain  independence  from  their 
lords  ecclesiastical  and  secular.  One  of  the  reasons  why  they 


THE  CITY-STATE  57 

wished  such  independence  was  to  modify  the  feudal  law,  which 
was,  as  has  been  said,  not  suited  to  commercial  and  industrial 
communities.  The  cities,  therefore,  attempted  to  obtain  control 
of  the  judicial  organization  and  early  secured  the  right  to  have 
their  own  local  courts.  These  city  courts  developed  their  own 
ideas  of  commercial  law,  one  city  very  often  copying  the  law 
of  some  other  city,  but  all  being  influenced  by  the  law  mer- 
chant which  had  been  introduced  from  Italy.  The  city  of 
Magdeburg,  for  example,  formulated  a  law  which  appears  to 
have  been  very  popular  through  mediaeval  Germany.  Indeed, 
Magdeburg  aided  the  other  cities  not  only  by  giving  them  a 
code  of  law,  but  also  by  acting  as  court  of  appeal  from  the 
determinations  reached  by  other  cities  in  their  attempts  to 
interpret  and  apply  the  law  originating  in  Magdeburg. 

The  German  cities  had  further  before  them  the  example  of 
the  Italian  cities.  Like  the  Italian  cities  they  strove  to  become 
republics  independent  of  all  superior  power.  A  number  of  them 
succeeded  in  accomplishing  what  they  desired.  In  fact,  so 
successful  were  they  that  both  the  feudal  princes  and  the  em- 
peror seem  to  have  become  frightened  at  the  turn  things  were 
taking.  Frederick  the  Second,  who  desired  to  reestablish  the 
Holy  Roman  Empire  and  obtain  control  of  the  kingdom  of 
Sicily,  was  obliged,  in  order  to  secure  the  support  of  his  vassals, 
to  attempt  to  stem  the  tide  of  municipal  independence.  He 
issued  several  decrees,  the  most  important  of  which  were  those 
issued  at  Worms,  1231,  and  Ravenna,  1232,  by  which  the  attempt 
was  made  to  overthrow  the  independence  of  the  municipalities. 

These  laws,  however,  were  never  actually  enforced,  and  after 
their  passage  as  before  the  cities  struggled  on  in  the  same  old 
way.  They  made  alliances  with  other  cities  and  formed  leagues 
like  the  great  Hanseatic  League,  received  outsiders  within  their 
limits,  and  attempted  to  obtain  dominion  over  outlying  terri- 
tories. Some  of  them  succeeded  in  the  struggle  and  became 
imperial  free  cities,  that  is,  cities  which  recognized  no  feudal 
lord  standing  between  them  and  the  emperor.  Other  cities 
were  unable  to  carry  on  the  struggle  successfully  and  were 
obliged  to  succumb  to  the  forces  brought  against  them.  But 
v.-hile  unable  to  secure  complete  independence,  they  nevertheless 


58  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

during  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries  obtained  many 
rights  and  privileges  of  self-government. 

In  all  cities,  whether  imperial  free  cities  or  not,  the  popula- 
tion was  divided  into  two  classes,  those  having  political  rights 
and  those,  constituting  everywhere  the  great  majority  of  the 
city  population,  to  whom  such  rights  were  not  granted.  As  a 
result  of  the  development  of  industry,  as  opposed  to  trade  or 
commerce,  the  industrial  portion  of  the  population  obtained 
greater  and  greater  economic  power  and  followed  the  example 
which  the  mercantile  portion  of  the  community  had  given  them 
in  early  times.  They  formed  what  came  to  be  known  as  "craft- 
guilds,"  which,  during  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries, 
practically  ousted  the  former  mercantile  guilds  from  their  posi- 
tion of  control  in  the  city  government,  and  obtained  that  control 
for  themselves. 

The  position  which  most  of  the  cities  in  Germany  had  suc- 
ceeded in  obtaining  by  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century  was  one 
which  they  could  not  logically  retain.  Either  they  must  become 
in  the  full  sense  of  the  word  city-states,  like  some  of  the  Italian 
cities,  or  they  must  sink  to  the  position  of  members  of  a  larger 
state  and  must  become,  from  the  legal  point  of  view,  administra- 
tive districts  of  a  larger  state.  It  was,  of  course,  impossible 
for  many  of  the  cities  to  assume  the  position  of  city-states.  In 
fact,  with  the  dying  out  of  the  feudal  law,  which  gradually 
throughout  Europe  came  to  be  replaced  by  the  Roman  law  as 
a  national  state  law,  there  was  not  the  same  need  for  the  cities 
to  remain  independent.  Roman  law,  which  had  been  developed 
at  a  time  when  social  relations  were  rather  complex,  satisfied 
all  the  needs  of  the  commercial  communities  of  the  sixteenth 
and  seventeenth  centuries.  Furthermore,  the  religious  wars 
which  broke  out  in  Germany  and  which  culminated  in  the  ter- 
rible struggles  incident  to  the  Thirty  Years'  War  destroyed  the 
commercial  prosperity  of  Germany  and  made  it  impossible  for 
the  cities  to  maintain  themselves.  With  the  exception  of  a 
few,  which  had  been  recognized  as  free  cities  and  which  had 
grown  so  powerful  that  they  could  maintain  their  independence, 
practically  all  the  cities  of  Germany  were  reduced  to  a  position 


THE  CITY-STATE  59 

of  subordination  to  the  feudal  princes,  who  during  the  religious 
wars  had  developed  at  the  expense  of  the  emperor. 

Municipal  Oligarchies.  In  Germany,  another  reason  why  no 
effective  resistance  was  offered  by  the  cities  to  what  may  be 
regarded  as  a  usurpation  of  their  rights  by  the  feudal  princes 
is  to  be  found  in  the  character  of  the  government  which  the  cities 
enjoyed.  Attention  has  been  called  to  the  fact  that  all  the 
people  of  the  cities  did  not  possess  political  rights.  This  con- 
dition of  things  was  aggravated  in  the  course  of  the  fourteenth 
and  fifteenth  centuries.  The  control  of  the  city  government 
fell  into  the  hands  of  a  smaller  and  smaller  class  who  succeeded 
in  having  the  principle  adopted  that  members  of  the  municipal 
council  should  be  chosen  by  cooptation,  that  is,  when  a  vacancy 
occurred  in  the  council  it  should  be  filled  by  the  remaining  mem- 
bers. This  council  had  a  very  close  relation  with  the  indus- 
trial organization  of  the  people,  found  in  the  guilds,  and  did  not 
hesitate  to  make  use  of  the  political  power  which  it  possessed 
in  the  interest  of  the  class  which  it  represented.  The  result 
was  that  not  only  was  the  government  of  the  cities  in  the  control 
of  the  wealthier  few,  but  the  wealthier  few  did  not  scruple 
to  exercise  their  political  powers  in  their  own  interest.  They 
prostituted  their  powers  in  the  interests  of  a  class,  and  wasted 
the  city's  patrimony.  They  were,  therefore,  not  popular  with 
the  municipal  population,  and  the  princes  of  the  various  states 
which  arose  in  Germany  were  able,  without  meeting  any  great 
resistance  on  the  part  of  the  city  population,  to  assume  control 
of  the  municipalities. 

The  result  of  the  final  development  of  the  German  cities 
was,  then,  the  same  as  it  was  in  Italy.  The  cities  went  through 
a  period  during  which  many  of  them  obtained  practically  the 
position  of  city-states,  but  were  for  the  most  part  later  brought 
into  the  position  of  subordinate  members  of  a  larger  state. 

Cities  in  France.  What  has  been  said  of  the  conditions  of 
the  cities  existing  in  the  Roman  Empire  is  just  as  true  of  the 
Praetorian  Prefecture  of  Gaul  as  it  was  of  Italy  and  Germany. 
The  districts  into  which  this  portion  of  the  Empire  was  divided 
and  which  made  no  distinction  between  urban  and  rural  con- 


60  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

ditions,  were  subjected  to  the  regime  of  feudalism.  All  the 
urban  communities  were  parts  of  districts  managed  by  feudal 
officers.  The  revival  of  commerce  in  the  tenth  and  eleventh 
centuries  had  the  same  effects,  further,  in  Gaul  or  France,  as  it 
was  later  called,  that  it  had  in  Italy  and  Germany.  If  we  ex- 
amine the  important  trade  routes  by  means  of  which  this  portion 
of  Europe  carried  on  its  commerce,  we  shall  find  that  in  the 
first  place  commerce  came  from  the  north  of  Italy,  either  over 
the  passes  of  the  Western  Alps,  or  by  water,  to  the  south  of 
France,  where  important  urban  communities  had  continued  in 
existence  from  the  times  of  the  Romans,  or  it  came  into  the 
north  of  France  from  the  cities  of  Germany,  situated  about  the 
mouth  of  the  Rhine.  From  either  of  these  two  districts  com- 
merce flowed  into  the  middle  of  France. 

Consular  Cities.  In  the  south  of  France  the  Italian  influence 
was  very  marked.  Cities  came  to  be  endowed  with  consuls  who 
were  for  a  long  time  supposed  to  have  had  a  Roman  origin. 
Later  investigation,  however,  would  seem  to  prove  that  the 
consular  cities,  as  these  cities  were  called,  did  not  get  their 
organization  from  the  cities  of  the  Roman  Empire,  but  from  the 
Italian  city-states.  These  cities  in  the  south  appear  to  have 
secured  somewhat  the  same  degree  of  independence  as  was 
secured  by  the  Italian  cities.  They  became  in  some  instances 
really  city-states. 

Communes.  The  development  in  the  north  was  very  differ- 
ent. Here  the  cities,  which  sprang  up  as  a  result  of  the  increase 
of  commerce,  in  many  instances  secured  their  independence  as 
the  result  of  a  distinctly  revolutionary  movement,  and  came  gen- 
erally to  be  known  as  communes.  They  took  by  force  the  right 
to  govern  themselves  and  obliged  their  feudal  lords  to  recognize 
this  right.  The  basis  of  the  commune  was  something  in  the 
nature  of  a  conspiracy  and  an  oath  was  taken  by  all  the  members 
of  the  commune  to  fight  for  its  liberty.  The  commune  move- 
ment was  aided  by  the  Crown,  which  as  in  Germany  saw  in  the 
existence  of  strong  urban  communities  a  political  force  which 
it  could  set  off  against  the  feudal  nobles,  and  therefore  granted 
charters  to  the  communes.  These  charters  contained  in  the  first 
place  certain  privileges  of  a  private-legal  character,  that  is,  they 


THE  CITY-STATE  61 

permitted  cities  to  exempt  themselves  from  a  portion  of  the 
feudal  law.  In  the  second  place,  these  charters  often  granted 
privileges  of  a  political  character,  providing  for  an  officer  known 
as  a  Mayor,  and  an  elective  Council  of  Jurats,  as  they  were 
called,  quite  analogous  to  the  Burgomaster  and  Council  of  the 
German  cities,  to  whom  were  granted  judicial  and  administrative 
powers. 

Feudal  Cities.  The  central  portion  of  France  could  not  fail 
to  be  influenced  by  these  ideas  which  came  from  Italy  either  by 
the  southern  or  northern  route.  The  feudal  lords  in  whose 
domains  urban  communities  began  to  spring  up  as  a  result  of  the 
development  of  commerce,  found  it  to  their  advantage  to  give 
them  privileges  similar  to  those  which  the  city-states  of  the  south 
and  the  north  had  succeeded  in  obtaining.  In  some  instances  we 
find  evidence  of  what  in  more  modern  times  would  be  called 
operations  of  a  speculative  character  carried  on  by  the  feudal 
lords.  They  established  town  sites  and  laid  out  cities,  and,  in 
the  same  way  as  the  feudal  princes  in  Germany  were  at  the 
same  time  doing,  they  granted  large  privileges  to  persons  who 
would  come  and  settle  in  these  districts.  These  cities,  however, 
were  for  the  most  part  governed  by  a  bailiff,  or  similar  officer, 
of  the  feudal  lord,  and  the  privileges  which  they  received  were 
privileges  of  a  private-legal,  rather  than  a  political  character. 
This  was  the  time  when  the  law  merchant  was  being  revived 
everywhere  throughout  Europe,  and  this  law  together  with 
limitations  of  the  rights  of  the  lord  with  regard  to  his  subjects 
living  in  these  urban  districts  was  very  commonly  introduced 
into  the  cities  throughout  France. 

The  Crown  and  the  Cities.  As  the  royal  power  increased  in 
France,  the  attempt  was  made  to  take  away  from  the  consular 
cities  of  the  south  and  the  communes  of  the  north  the  political 
privileges  which  they  possessed  and  to  assimilate  them  to  the 
feudal  cities  in  the  center  of  the  country.  Ultimately  all  the 
cities  of  the  kingdom,  however  they  originated,  came  to  occupy 
a  position  similar  to  that  obtained  by  the  feudal  cities.  The 
movement  which  resulted  in  giving  to  all  urban  communities 
a  position  of  a  privileged  character,  somewhat  different  from 
the  rural  districts,  was  accompanied  by  the  alleviation  of  the 


62  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

condition  of  the  serfs  throughout  the  country.  Persons  living 
in  the  rural  communities  might  migrate  to  the  cities.  This 
alleviation  of  serfdom  had  somewhat  the  same  effect  as  the 
recognition  of  the  principle  that  "the  air  makes  free"  had  in 
Germany. 

It  will  be  seen  from,  what  has  been  said  that,  owing  to  one 
cause  or  another,  the  idea  of  the  city-state  really  never  took  root 
in  France.  The  cities  which  resembled  city-states  and  which 
were  established  in  the  south  and  north  were  quite  early  in  the 
history  of  the  country  placed  in  the  position  of  subordinate 
members  of  a  larger  state,  a  position  which  they  have  ever  since 
occupied. 

In  England  the  city-state  never  developed  at  all.  Its  failure 
to  develop  was  due  probably  to  the  early  centralization  of  the 
royal  power,  and  the  consequent  establishment  of  a  common  law 
not  based  on  feudal  principles,  as  well  as  to  the  backwardness 
of  trade  and  commerce  as  compared  with  the  continent. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE   CITY  AS  AN  ADMINISTRATIVE  DISTRICT   OF  A  LARGER  STATE 

REFERENCES : 

Fairlie,  J.,  A.  "Municipal  Administration,"  pp.  32-54.  Howe,  F.  C., 
"The  Modern  City  and  its  Problems,"  Chap.  III.  Green,  Mrs.  J.  R.,  "Town 
Life  in  the  Fifteenth  Century,"  Chaps.  VI-X.  Emerton,  "Mediaeval  Eu- 
rope," Chap.  XV.  May,  E.,  "Constitutional  History  of  England,  Vol.  II, 
Chap.  XV.  Webb,  S.  and  B.,  "English  Local  Government,"  Vol.  II,  Chaps. 
VI  and  VII.  Pollock  and  Maitland,  F.  W.,  "History  of  English  Law," 
Vol.  I,  pp.  634-688. 

The  Mediaeval  City  not  a  City-State.  The  revival  of  municipal 
independence  which  has  been  seen  to  be  characteristic  of  all 
Western  Europe  in  the  tenth  and  the  immediately  following 
centuries,  did  not  really  cause  a  reversion  to  the  ancient  idea 
of  the  city-state.  While  there  are  many  characteristics  of  the 
ancient  city-state  in  the  cities  of  Italy,  Germany  and  France, 
which  sprang  up  as  a  result  of  the  revival  of  commerce,  it  is 
improper  for  two  reasons  to  regard  the  cities  of  mediaeval 
Europe,  however  independent  may  have  been  their  position,  as 
really  examples  of  the  old  city-state. 

In  the  first  place,  the  ancient  idea  of  a  peculiar  religious 
worship  did  not  lie  at  the  basis  of  the  new  municipal  organiza- 
tion. The  religion  of  all  Europe  was  now  Christian,  and  while 
particular  saints  were  regarded  as  according  special  protection 
to  particular  places,  the  reverence  in  which  they  were  held  was 
not  so  great  as  to  cause  the  establishment  of  a  local  religion 
in  the  sense  in  which  each  of  the  city-states  of  the  ancient  world 
had  its  own  religion. 

In  the  second  place,  whatever  may  have  been  the  independence 
of  the  cities,  they  never  claimed  complete  immunity  from  the 
power  of  the  sovereign  lord  of  the  country,  that  is,  the  Emperor 
in  Italy  and  Germany,  and  the  king  in  France.  Venice  and 
Genoa,  and  particularly  Venice,  might  perhaps  be  regarded  as 
exceptions.  These  two  cities  remained  for  a  long  time  independ- 

63 


64  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

ent  of  any  other  state,  and  in  Venice  the  peculiar  veneration 
in  which  Saint  Mark  was  held  was  almost  a  substitute  for  a 
state  religion. 

Commercial  Basis  of  Mediaeval  Cities.  It  has  already  been 
seen  that  as  the  substitution  of  the  imperial  for  the  city-state 
idea  in  the  Roman  state  was  caused  by  changing  social  and 
economic  conditions,  so  in  turn,  were  the  causes  of  the  munic- 
ipal revival  of  the  middle  ages  almost  entirely  commercial  in 
character.  The  successful  prosecution  of  commerce  and  the 
occupations  attendant  upon  it  was  impossible  under  the  legal 
conditions  existing  in  the  feudal  world.  The  cities,  and  by  the 
cities  we  really  mean  the  commercial  communities,  struggled 
not  so  much  for  any  abstract  idea  of  political  liberty  or  inde- 
pendence, as  for  the  opportunity  to  carry  on  under  favorable 
conditions  the  occupations  upon  which  the  existence  of  municipal 
life  was  absolutely  dependent.  The  great  influence  which  the 
cities  had  in  bringing  about  modern  conceptions  of  law — for  the 
Roman  law  originally  introduced  into  the  cities  ultimately  be- 
came the  law  of  almost  all  of  Europe — has  caused  many  to  believe 
that  they  are  to  be  regarded  as  in  the  nature  of  cradles  of 
liberty,  and  that  municipal  populations  are  more  prone  to 
struggle  for  the  realization  of  abstract  principles  of  liberty  than 
are  rural  populations.  If,  however,  the  interpretation  of  the 
history  of  mediaeval  municipal  development  which  has  been 
given  is  correct,  it  would  appear  that  the  municipal  popula- 
tions were  struggling  during  the  middle  ages  merely  for  a  better 
opportunity  for  the  transaction  of  the  business  upon  which 
municipal  life  was  dependent. 

After  the  cities  had  secured  the  changes  in  the  law  and  in  the 
political  system  which  were  necessary  in  order  that  the  occupa- 
tions of  trade  and  commerce  could  be  successfully  carried  on 
their  political  importance  declined.  The  abstract  idea  of  munic- 
ipal independence,  apart  from  the  consideration  of  the  economic 
advantages  which  such  independence  in  the  conditions  of  the 
time  gave  them,  does  not  appear  to  have  had  very  much  influence 
upon  their  actions. 

City  Oligarchies.  That  cities  may  not  properly  be  regarded  as 
cradles  of  liberty  is  likewise  seen  when  their  internal  domestic 


THE  CITY  AS  AN  ADMINISTRATIVE  DISTRICT      65 

history  is  considered.  Like  the  Roman  cities,  they  fell  under 
the  control  of  a  small  class  which  made  use  of  its  power  over 
the  city  government  in  its  own  interests.  It  has  been  seen  in 
the  preceding  chapter  that  in  Italy  the  oligarchical  rule  which 
was  at  first  characteristic  of  the  newly  revived  municipalities 
gave  place  generally  to  despotic  rule.  In  Germany  it  has  been 
seen  that  the  government  became  oligarchical  rather  than  despotic 
in  character  and  was  carried  on  by  a  narrow  group  of  citizens 
who  were  usually  closely  associated  as  merchants  or  manufac- 
turers with  the  commerce  and  industry  of  the  city,  and  who 
made  use  of  their  powers  to  secure  to  themselves  what  were 
very  much  in  the  nature  of  commercial  and  industrial  monopo- 
lies. 

Early  English  Boroughs.  While  the  tendency  of  urban  popu- 
lation to  fall  under  the  control  of  an  oligarchy  is  perhaps  even 
more  marked  in  England  than  on  the  continent,  the  circumstances 
attending  the  development  of  oligarchic  rule  were  in  some  re- 
spects unlike  those  seen  in  Italy,  Germany  or  France.  In  the 
English  cities  there  was  no  direct  heritage  of  Roman  tradition, 
nor  did  feudalism  exist  to  such  a  degree  as  to  cause  the  crown 
to  foster  the  cities  as  a  foil  against  the  power  of  the  nobles. 
Moreover,  as  has  been  stated,  the  city-state  idea  never  gained 
a  foothold. 

The  original  English  municipal  organization  was  unusally 
democratic.  Its  center  was  in  a  special  court,  which  cities,  after 
the  manner  of  all  European  cities  in  the  middle  ages,  were  per- 
mitted to  hold,  called  the  court-leet.  In  accordance  with  the 
idea  of  popular  administration  of  justice,  which  was  charac- 
teristic of  the  original  Teutonic  legal  system,  this  body  con- 
sisted of  the  freemen  householders,  who,  in  the  language  of  the 
time,  "paid  scot  and  bore  lot."  By  this  was  meant  the  paying 
of  taxes  and  the  legal  capacity  of  participating  in  the  judicial 
administration.  As  the  cities  developed,  this  body,  which  was 
originally  judicial  in  character  and  which  did  for  the  city  jus- 
tice what  the  ordinary  courts  of  the  hundred  did  for  the  rural 
districts,  assumed  the  discharge  of  the  municipal  functions  which 
were  necessitated  by  the  presence  in  the  city  of  a  large  popula- 
tion. 


66  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

Gradually,  however,  this  democratic  organization  was  modified, 
owing  to  changes  in  the  general  governmental  system  of  the 
country.  This  modification  occurred  especially  in  two  respects. 
The  first  of  these  was  with  respect  to  finance.  One  of  the 
things  which  characterized  the  original  English  municipal  bor- 
ough was  the  privilege  known  as  the  firma  burgi.  This  con- 
sisted in  the  right  granted  to  a  city  to  cprnpound  for  a  fixed 
sum  the  pecuniary  burdens  which  might  be  demanded  by  the 
Crown  of  the  municipal  inhabitants.  It  was  in  the  early  days 
the  result  of  a  bargain  between  the  Crown  and  the  city,  which 
was  represented  by  its'  court-leet.  After  the  amount  which  was 
to  be  given  to  the  Crown  was  ascertained,  it  was  distributed 
among  the  people  of  the  city  by  the  court-leet.  "When,  however, 
Edward  I,  in  1295,  summoned  to  meet  with  the  Great  Council 
of  the  kingdom,  two  representatives  from  each  of  the  boroughs, 
and  two  knights  from  each  of  the  shires,  and  thus  formed  the 
body  afterwards  known  as  the  English  Parliament,  the  function 
of  the  court-leet  in  fixing  the  amount  due  the  Crown  ceased 
to  be  of  any  importance.  Such  bargain  as  was  thereafter  made 
between  the  Crown  and  the  city  was  made  in  Parliament,  where 
the  borough  was  represented.  The  amounts  which  were  to  be 
paid  by  the  city  inhabitants  were  likewise  determined  by  Parlia- 
ment rather  than  by  the  local  court-leet  and  took  on  the  nature 
of  a  tax. 

In  the  second  place,  at  the  same  time  that  the  financial  func- 
tions of  the  old  municipal  assembly  were  being  taken  from  it, 
the  judicial  privilege,  which  it  possessed,  consisting  in  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  law  in  a  special  municipal  court-leet,  was 
succumbing  to  a  two-fold  centralizing  influence.  The  law  itself 
was  becoming  much  more  complex  with  the  greater  complexity 
of  social  conditions,  and  this  complexity  of  the  law  made  it  seem 
expedient  to  provide  for  its  application  by  judges  learned  in  the 
law  in  place  of  the  old  popular  courts.  At  the  same  time,  a 
new  method  of  preserving  the  peace  was  established.  This  ob- 
tained its  final  form  in  the  reign  of  Edward  III,  when  the  office 
so  celebrated  afterwards  in  English  history,  namely,  that  of  the 
justice  of  the  peace,  was  established.  Justices  of  the  peace  were 
provided  for  the  cities  as  well  as  for  the  open  country,  and  in 


THE  CITY  AS  AN  ADMINISTRATIVE  DISTRICT       67 

the  cities  as  well  as  in  the  open  country,  they  assumed  the 
discharge  of  almost  all  police  and  minor  judicial  functions.  As 
a  result  of  the  appointment  of  judges  learned  in  the  law,  and 
of  justices  of  the  peace,  the  old  court-leet  ceased  to  have  any 
particular  importance  as  a  judicial  body,  and  although  appar- 
ently it  was  never  abolished  by  formal  act  of  Parliament,  it 
seems  to  have  died  of  inanition. 

Development  of  Oligarchical  Government.  The  apparent  result 
of  the  decreasing  importance  of  the  court-leet  was  that  it  came 
to  be  attended  by  fewer  and  fewer  persons.  The  only  part  of 
the  work  which  it  formerly  did  that  it  had  still  to  do  was  at- 
tending to  the  distinctly  local  matters  of  an  administrative 
character.  This  work  could  be  done  more  easily  by  a  com- 
mittee of  the  body  than  by  the  whole  body,  and  we  find  de- 
veloping everywhere  in  English  cities  a  small  body  known  in 
some  places  as  the  Leet-Jury,  in  others  as  the  Capital-Burgesses, 
and  in  still  others  as  the  Borough  Council,  which,  ultimately, 
under  the  latter  name  came  to  be  the  principal  municipal  au- 
thority. The  old  basis  of  municipal  citizenship,  which  con- 
sisted in  paying  scot  and  bearing  lot,  began  to  be  undermined, 
and  was  replaced  by  different  principles  in  different  cities, 
principles  which  varied  with  the  occupations  and  interests  of 
the  municipal  inhabitants.  In  the  larger  cities,  like  London,  in 
which  the  interests  of  commerce  and  industry  predominated, 
membership  in  guilds  became  the  basis  of  municipal  citizenship. 
London  to-day,  with  its  livery  companies,  as  they  are  called,  is  a 
good  example  of  the  organization  of  the  medieval  English  city. 

The  assumption  of  political  power  in  the  English  cities  by 
a  narrow  class  of  the  municipal  population  was  naturally  not 
accomplished  without  opposition  upon  the  part  of  the  inhab- 
itants who  were  excluded  from  participation  in  the  government. 
Thus,  it  is  said  that  in  1467  "the  companies  and  liveries  of 
London  had  been  making  encroachments  upon  the  privileges  of 
householders  in  the  ward  motes  to  such  an  extent  that  it  was 
necessary  for  Parliament  to  interfere  for  the  protection  of  the 
people,  and  upon  the  Parliamentary  roll  of  the  same  year  there 
is  a  petition  praying  for  the  dissolution  of  the  tailors'  guild 
at  Exeter,  on  the  ground  that  they  set  the  authority  of  the 


68  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

mayor  at  defiance  and  threatened  to  reduce  the  town  to  a  state 
of  anarchy. ' ' x  Notwithstanding  this  opposition,  the  result  as 
in  Germany  was  that  the  citizens  as  a  whole  lost  all  right  to 
participate  in  the  city  government,  and  a  new  body  which  repre- 
sented the  wealthier  classes  took  to  itself  the  powers  formerly 
exercised  by  the  more  democratic  court-leet.  This  narrow  body, 
the  borough  council,  or  by  whatever  name  it  was  called,  was 
either  renewed  by  cooptation,  or  chosen  by  a  very  narrow  elec- 
torate that  was  composed  of  the  more  wealthy  members  of  the 
community. 

Incorporation  of  Boroughs.  The  next  step  in  the  development 
was  to  put  the  seal  of  legality  upon  this  oligarchical  municipal 
organization  through  the  device  of  incorporation.  The  early 
charters  possessed  by  cities  were  not  in  reality  charters  of  in- 
corporation, but  like  the  charters  granted  to  the  German  and 
French  cities,  were  merely  charters  of  privileges.  The  first 
charter  of  incorporation  was  granted  in  1439  to  the  borough 
of  Kingston-upon-Hull.  With  the  accession  of  the  Tudors,  the 
movement  for  incorporating  boroughs  assumed  such  propor- 
tions as  to  justify  us  in  placing  the  beginning  of  the  period  of 
incorporation  at  the  accession  of  the  Tudors  to  the  throne  of 
England. 

These  charters  incorporated,  not  the  whole  body  of  citizens, 
but  the  narrow  oligarchy  which  had  come  to  take  its  place. 
The  legal  name,  "The  Mayor,  Aldermen  and  Commonalty  of 
New  York,"  which  the  city  of  New  York  bore  up  to  the  time 
of  the  creation  of  the  present  city  of  ' '  Greater  New  York, ' '  was 
given  to  it  in  one  of  the  early  charters  framed  upon  the  English 
model. 

The  Boroughs  and  the  Crown.  It  has  already  been  seen  that 
in  France  the  favor  shown  by  the  king  toward  the  communes, 
primarily  for  his  own  purposes,  carried  benefits  to  the  whole 
population.  In  England,  however,  the  charters  of  incorporation 
redounded  to  the  benefit  of  only  the  narrow  governing  oligarchy 
and  the  Crown  itself.  Since  the  days  of  Edward  I,  every 
borough  had  been  entitled  to  return  to  Parliament  two  mem- 

i  Vine,  "English  Municipal  Institutions,"  p.  7. 


THE  CITY  AS  AN  ADMINISTRATIVE  DISTRICT       69 

bers,  who  had  come  to  be  selected  by  the  governing  oligarchy. 
By  placing  the  seal  of  legality  through  incorporation  upon  this 
oligarchy,  the  selection  of  members  could  be  more  effectually 
controlled  by  the  Crown.  The  immediate  need  of  the  Crown 
to  control  Parliament  grew  out  of  the  religious  struggles  of 
the  sixteenth  century  incident  to  the  Protestant  Reformation 
and  the  separation  of  the  English  church  from  Rome.  Indeed, 
the  importance  of  controlling  Parliament  was  so  great  that  the 
king  granted  charters  of  incorporation  carrying  with  them  the 
right  to  be  represented  in  Parliament  to  an  enormous  number 
of  boroughs,  so  that,  ultimately,  the  urban  population  were 
disproportionately  represented  in  Parliament.2 

Even  the  grant  of  charters  of  incorporation  to  the  towns  which 
desired  it  was  not  sufficient  to  satisfy  the  wishes  of  the  Crown ; 
and  the  courts,  which  were  at  this  time  under  royal  control, 
invented  what  is  known  as  the  principle  of  implied  incorporation. 
This  principle  was  made  use  of  to  force  upon  boroughs,  which 
would  not  accept  the  charters  offered  them  by  the  Crown,  the 
oligarchical  form  of  government  which  it  has  been  seen  had  so 
generally  developed.3 

The  most  noted  example  of  action  on  the  part  of  the  Crown 
in  the  establishment  of  oligarchical  government  in  the  boroughs 
is  to  be  found  in  what  is  known  as  the  "crusade  against  cor- 
porations," which  took  place  under  Charles  II  and  James  II, 
particularly  under  the  latter.  James  was  aided  in  his  work  by 
his  tool,  the  notorious  Lord  Jeffreys.  Actions  of  quo  warranto 
were  brought  in  great  numbers  against  such  municipalities  as 
had  evidenced  any  desire  to  be  independent  4  and  judgment  was 
given  by  the  courts  against  many  of  them,  including  the  city  of 
London.  Other  corporations  voluntarily  surrendered  their  char- 
ters for  fear  of  being  proceeded  against  by  the  Crown.  In  case 
judgment  was  obtained  against  a  corporation,  or  a  corporation 

2  Notwithstanding  the  various  redistribution  acts  which  have  been  passed 
within  the  last  two  centuries  this  disproportion  still  exists. 

s  Corporation  Cases,  4  Eeports,  p.  776 ;  Ireland  and  Free  Borough,  12 
Coke,  p.  120. 

4  The  most  famous  of  these  cases  was  that  of  Rex  v.  London,  8  How- 
ell's  State  Trials,  pp.  1039-1340. 


70  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

surrendered  its  charter,  a  new  charter  was  granted  placing  the 
control  of  city  affairs  including  the  election  of  members  to 
Parliament  in  the  hands  of  the  wealthy  few. 

After  the  Revolution  of  1688  conditions  were  no  better.  The 
political  parties  which  soon  developed  found  it  to  their  advan- 
tage to  perpetuate  the  "rotten  boroughs,"  as  they  were  called, 
for  the  purpose  of  swelling  the  number  of  their  party  adherents 
in  Parliament. 

English  Cities  in  1830.  The  position  of  English  municipal  gov- 
ernment as  it  existed  in  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century 
is  well  described  by  Vine.  He  says :  ' '  That  the  municipal  cor- 
porations were  for  the  most  part  in  the  hands  of  narrow  and 
self-elected  cliques  who  administered  local  affairs  for  their  own 
advantage,  rather  than  for  that  of  the  borough ;  that  the  inhab- 
itants were  practically  deprived  of  all  power  of  local  self-govern- 
ment, and  were  ruled  by  those  whom  they  had  not  chosen,  and  in 
whom  they  had  no  confidence;  that  the  corporate  funds  were 
wasted ;  that  the  interests  and  improvements  of  towns  were  not 
cared  for ;  that  the  local  courts  were  too  often  corrupted  by  party 
influence  and  failed  to  render  impartial  justice,  and  that  munic- 
ipal institutions,  instead  of  strengthening  and  supporting  the 
political  framework  of  the  country,  were  a  source  of  weakness 
and  a  fertile  cause  of  discontent. ' ' 5 

The  whole  municipal  organization  was  thus  prostituted  in  the 
interest  of  the  party  politics  of  the  kingdom  generally.  It  was 
so  poor  and  so  unrepresentative  that  it  was  useless  to  give  the 
city  corporations  any  of  the  new  functions  of  administration, 
made  necessary  by  the  changes  that  were  taking  place  in  English 
social  and  economic  conditions.  When  the  suppression  of  the 
monasteries  by  Henry  VIII  had  made  necessary  some  provision 
for  the  poor,  this  branch  of  administration  had  been  entrusted 
to  the  ecclesiastical  parishes,  which  existed  in  the  urban  as 
well  as  in  the  rural  districts.  These  parishes,  which  acted  under 
the  supervision  of  the  justices  of  the  peace,  had  more  vitality 
than  the  boroughs  in  which  they  might  be  found,  and  were,  there- 
fore, in  many  cases,  entrusted  with  the  new  functions  of  govern- 

5  Vine,  "English  Municipal  Institutions,"  p.  10. 


THE  CITY  AS  AN  ADMINISTRATIVE  DISTRICT      71 

merit.  In  other  cases  such  new  functions  of  government,  among 
which  may  be  included  the  lighting  and  paving  of  the  streets, 
were  put  into  the  hands  of  new  authorities:  "trusts"  and  "com- 
missions," formed  by  special  legislation.  The  sphere  of  govern- 
ment which  the  borough  corporation,  as  a  corporation,  had  to 
discharge  therefore  remained  very  small.  It  embraced  only 
such  matters  as  the  care  of  municipal  property,  the  issue  of 
police  ordinances,  and  the  discharge  of  certain  functions  con- 
nected with  the  administration  of  justice.  The  justices  of  the 
peace  by  whom  justice  was  administered  in  the  cities  were  often 
the  same  persons  who  in  other  capacities  acted  as  municipal 
officers.  The  borough  was  not  looked  upon  as  a  local  organiza- 
tion for  the  performance  of  all  governmental  functions  within 
the  municipal  area,  but  as  on  the  one  hand  a  juristic  person 
with  property  of  its  own,  to  be  made  use  of  for  the  benefit  of 
the  few  who  were  entitled  to  it,  and  on  the  other  hand,  as  a 
mere  delegate  of  the  state  government  for  which  it  acted  in 
matters  of  state  rather  than  local  concern,  like  the  administration 
of  justice. 

French  Centralization.  Owing  to  the  fact,  perhaps,  that 
France  became  thoroughly  centralized  before  any  other  state  in 
Europe,  the  movement  towards  subjecting  municipalities  to  the 
state  began  there  earlier  than  elsewhere.  There  it  may  be  said  to 
have  begun  as  early  as  the  fourteenth  century.  The  most  noted 
early  instance  of  the  subjection  of  cities  to  central  control  was 
the  interference  by  Charles  VI  with  the  administration  of  the 
city  of  Paris,  in  1383.  Central  control  of  cities  was  not  im- 
portant in  France,  however,  until  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth 
century.  The  attempt  was  then  made  by  the  Crown  to  issue 
general  ordinances  which  should  apply  to  more  than  one  city. 
Up  to  this  time  it  may  be  said  that  the  government  of  the  cities, 
so  far  as  ftieir  relations  with  the  Crown  were  concerned,  was 
regulated  by  ordinances  of  a  special  and  individual  character. 
While  under  the  regime  of  special  charters  the  relations  between 
the  cities  and  the  Crown  were  regarded  as  being  governed  by 
something  in  the  nature  of  a  contract,  under  the  regime  of 
general  ordinances  the  contract  idea  was  abandoned,  and  cities 
were  regarded  as  subject  to  the  general  legislative  power  of  the 


72  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

Crown.  The  Crown  was  not  considered,  in  its  regulation  of  city 
affairs,  as  dealing  with  another  party  to  a  contract  on  a  position 
of  equality  with  it,  but  as  regulating  the  relations  of  subordinate 
communities  through  the  exercise  of  sovereign  power. 

The  purpose  of  these  general  ordinances  was  to  increase  the 
influence  of  the  Crown  as  the  representative  of  the  new  national 
state  which  was  beginning  to  develop.  It  had  as  its  ultimate 
effect  the  taking  away  from  the  cities  of  practically  all  powers 
of  local  self-government.  This  was  accomplished  under  the 
reigns  of  Louis  XIV  and  XV,  so  that  by  the  beginning  of  the 
eighteenth  century  the  cities  were  merely  administrative  dis- 
tricts of  the  kingdom  with  privileges  hardly  any  greater  than 
were  possessed  by  other  administrative  districts. 

The  Crown  had  in  many  cases  ample  excuse  for  interfering. 
As  early  as  1464  there  is  found  an  instance  of  a  bankrupt  city, 
viz.,  Montreuil  sur  Mer.  The  Crown  had  to  appoint  commis- 
sioners to  liquidate  its  indebtedness  and  one  of  the  means  to 
which  the  commissioners  had  recourse  was  that  used  by  some 
American  cities  in  the  nineteenth  century,  namely,  the  scaling 
of  the  city  debt.  Numerous  instances  of  such  municipal  ex- 
travagance might  be  cited.  Indeed,  municipal  extravagance 
became  so  serious  that  Colbert,  the  great  finance  minister  of 
Louis  XIV,  undertook  a  general  investigation  of  the  debts  of 
the  cities  in  several  of  the  French  provinces.  The  report  of 
the  commissioners  appointed  for  the  purpose  was  followed  by 
an  ordinance  in  1662,  which  made  the  authorization  of  the 
Crown  necessary  for  contracting  any  new  debts.  In  1669,  all 
the  cities  were  ordered  to  send  to  the  royal  officers  in  the  prov- 
inces their  budgets  of  receipts  and  expenses  for  the  last  ten 
years,  and  in  1683,  the  Crown,  in  order  to  prevent  them  from 
becoming  indebted  in  the  future,  ordered  that  their  budgets  of 
expenses  should  be  fixed  in  advance  by  the  royal  officers. 

Legislation  of  Napoleon.  The  subjection  of  cities  to  the  con- 
trol of  the  central  government  reached  its  climax  in  the  Napole- 
onic scheme  of  administration  which  was  incorporated  into  the 
great  administrative  act  of  1800.6  This  act  is  interesting  for 

«  L.  28  pluviSse  an  VIII. 


THE  CITY  AS  AN  ADMINISTRATIVE  DISTRICT       73 

several  reasons.  In  the  first  place,  it  established  in  its  final  form 
the  administrative  district  known  to  the  French  law  as  the 
commune.  The  term  "commune"  was  adopted  because  it  was 
associated  in  the  minds  of  the  French  with  the  struggles  for 
municipal  liberty,  which  occurred  in  the  northern  part  of  France 
during  the  middle  ages,  and  which,  as  we  have  seen,  resulted  in 
the  establishment  of  little  republics  in  the  nature  of  city-states. 
The  law  is  interesting,  in  the  second  place,  because  the  commune 
which  it  established  reverted  to  the  old  Roman  idea  of  the  city- 
state  in  that  it  made  no  distinction  between  the  urban  and  the 
rural  portions  of  the  community.  The  commune  consisted  of  a 
territorial  area  in  which  both  urban  and  rural  communities  were 
to  be  found,  governed  from  the  most  important  urban  district 
in  the  commune,  to  which  was  given  the  name  of  cheflieu. 
Finally,  the  act  of  1800  is  of  interest,  as  has  been  intimated, 
in  that  it  shows  the  extreme  point  to  which  the  movement  of 
subjecting  the  cities  to  the  control  of  the  state  went  in  the 
highly  centralized  government  of  France.  The  organization  pro- 
vided by  this  act  for  the  commune  consisted  of  a  council  and 
mayor,  who  were  appointed  by  the  central  government  of  France, 
and  all  of  whose  acts  were  subject,  before  they  had  legal  force, 
to  the  approval  of  some  officer  of  the  central  administration. 

Centralization  in  Germany.  In  Germany,  the  development  was 
much  the  same  as  in  France.  The  action  which  the  monarchs 
of  the  various  states  of  the  Empire  took  towards  the  cities  dur- 
ing the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries  was  in  the  nature 
of  the  exercise  of  sovereign  power.  As  a  result  of  this  attitude, 
in  the  first  place,  the  contractual  basis  of  the  city  was  abandoned 
and  everywhere  municipal  administration  began  to  be  regulated 
by  general  ordinances  more  in  the  nature  of  legislative  acts 
than  in  that  of  contracts.  The  conception  of  the  city  which 
is  to  be  found  in  these  ordinances  is  not  that  of  a  local  self- 
governing  body,  but  of  a  state  agent  which  is  made  use  of,  not 
so  much  for  the  satisfaction  of  the  local  needs  of  the  inhabitants 
of  the  district  in  which  the  city  is  situated  as  to  aid  the  state 
government  in  a  better  regulation  of  state  affairs.  That  con- 
ception of  state  affairs  now  included  what  had  formerly  been 
regarded  as  city  affairs.  The  rights  and  powers  possessed  by 


74  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

cities  were,  therefore,  regarded  as  having  been  delegated  to  them 
by  the  general  state  government.  The  officers  in  the  cities  were 
regarded  as  part  of  the  state  government  placed  by  it  in  the 
cities,  or,  where  the  right  of  electing  city  officers  was  still  retained 
by  the  municipal  population,  their  election  was  made  subject 
to  the  approval  of  the  state.  These  officers,  when  elected,  acted 
under  the  supervision  of  the  central  state  authority. 

In  the  second  place,  the  rights  of  the  cities  as  legal  corpora- 
tions, and  the  private-legal  rights  of  the  single  members  of  these 
corporations  were  regulated  by  state  law,  while  any  resolutions 
passed  by  the  cities  as  a  result  of  the  exercise  of  any  powers, 
that  might  have  been  left  with  them  to  regulate  their  internal 
police,  had  force  only  after  they  had  been  approved  by  repre- 
sentatives of  the  central  state  government. 

In  the  third  place  the  property  of  the  cities,  finally,  came 
to  be  regarded  as  state  property  simply  held  by  the  cities  in 
trust,  and  its  management  was  subjected  to  the  continual  control 
and  supervision  of  the  state  government. 

This  condition  of  things  was  brought  about  in  Prussia  largely 
by  the  Great  Elector  and  Frederick  William  I,  and  the  legal 
conception  of  the  conditions  which  they  established  was  incor- 
porated into  the  Prussian  code  that  was  adopted  in  the  reign 
of  Frederick  the  Great. 

It  has  already  been  shown  that,  on  account  of  the  gradual 
degeneration  of  German  municipal  administration,  which  had 
fallen  into  the  hands  of  a  small  and  selfish  class,  little  effective 
resistance  to  this  state  interference  was  made  by  the  cities.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  indeed,  the  work  which  the  Crown  thus  under- 
took was  done  in  such  a  way  as  really  to  benefit  the  average 
municipal  inhabitant.  The  town  property  and  police  power, 
which  had  been  made  use  of  by  the  municipal  oligarchies  as  a 
means  of  enriching  themselves  and  the  class  to  which  they  be- 
longed, were  restored  by  the  Crown  to  the  position  which  they 
formerly  occupied  as  a  means  of  benefiting  the  entire  municipal 
population.  The  Crown,  thus,  while  reducing  the  cities  to  the 
position  of  absolutely  dependent  members  of  the  state  organi- 
zation, laid  the  social  basis  upon  which  a  reasonably  democratic 
municipal  government  might  be  built  up  in  the  future.  As 


THE  CITY  AS  AN  ADMINISTRATIVE  DISTRICT      75 

Leidig  says:  "The  service  which  the  absolute  government  that 
arose  at  the  end  of  the  Thirty  Years'  War  rendered  to  municipal 
government  is  that  it  put  the  cities  in  a  position  to  serve  public 
needs,  and,  while  it  had  no  conception  of  a  municipal  life  apart 
from  the  life  of  the  state,  it  did  exercise  the  powers  of  the  cities 
for  public  ends,  and  in  this  way  revived  the  old  municipal  spirit 
for  the  work  of  the  future. " 7 

Centralization  in  Italy.  Attention  has  been  called  to  the  fact 
that  the  cities  of  Italy,  after  the  development  of  despotic  gov- 
ernment therein  in  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries,  in 
many  cases  dropped  into  the  position  of  members  of  a  larger 
state.  This  movement  was  furthered  by  the  subjection  of  most  of 
Italy  to  the  influence  of  foreign  states.  Thus,  Spain  ultimately 
obtained  control  of  the  southern  part  of  Italy,  which  was  or- 
ganized under  the  name  of  the  Kingdom  of  the  Two  Sicilies. 
In  the  north  of  Italy  by  the  eighteenth  century,  most  of  the 
states  which  had  developed  had  fallen  under  the  control  of 
Austria,  while  the  center  was  occupied  by  the  Papal  States.  In 
all  of  these  districts  the  cities  ultimately  lost  almost  all  in- 
dependence. In  particular  instances,  they  had  certain  privileges 
of  a  private-legal,  rather  than  a  political  character.  These 
privileges  did  not  ordinarily  include  the  right  of  local  self- 
government,  but  rather  security  of  property  rights  and  the 
civil  liberty  of  the  citizens,  together  with  a  limitation  of  their 
duties  to  the  state.  In  exceptional  instances,  however,  the  in- 
habitants of  cities  did  have  the  right  to  choose  their  own  officers.8 
The  final  result  of  the  encroachments  of  the  central  government 
of  the  state  was,  in  some  of  the  Italian  states,  to  reduce  the  cities 
to  the  position  of  purely  administrative  districts.  Such  was 
the  case  in  Piedmont,  whose  king  ultimately  consolidated  Italy. 
Charles  Emmanuel  III,  king  of  Piedmont,  in  a  series  of  regula- 
tions, which  were  consolidated  in  1775,  and  remained  in  force 
until  1848,  provided  a  uniform  administration  for  all  com- 
munes. The  officers  of  the  communes  were  appointed  directly 
or  indirectly  by  the  central  government.9 

7  Leidig,  "Das  Preussische  Stadtrecht,"  p.  9. 
s  Fertile,  "Storia  del  Diritto  Italiano,"  Vol.  II,  pp.  370-400. 
»  Orlando,  "Primo  Trattato  Completo  di  Diritto  Amministrativo  Itali- 
ano," Vol.  I,  pp.  1109  et  seq. 


76  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

In  England,  no  such  subjection  of  municipal  government  to  the 
control  of  the  Crown  save  the  extra-legal  control  over  the  return 
of  members  of  Parliament  is  to  be  noticed.  This  apparent 
freedom  from  central  control  is,  however,  more  apparent  than 
real.  The  system  of  government  possessed  by  England  was, 
after  the  development  of  Parliament,  a  system  of  legislative 
centralization,  while  that  on  the  continent  prior  to  1848  was  a 
system  of  administrative  centralization.  In  accordance  with  the 
English  principles  of  legislative,  or  Parliamentary,  centraliza- 
tion, the  cities  were  regarded  as  subject  in  all  cases  to  the  power 
of  Parliament,  and  as  having  only  those  powers  which  Parlia- 
ment had  expressly  or  impliedly  granted  to  them.  As  com- 
pared with  continental  cities  their  sphere  of  activity  was  a  very 
narrow  one.  It  is  true  that  in  this  sphere  they  acted  free  from 
any  central  administrative  supervision,  but  all  things  consid- 
ered it  was  as  true  in  England  as  on  the  continent  that  the 
city  of  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century  was  a  sub- 
ordinate member  of  a  greater  state  of  which  it  formed  a  part. 

Conclusions.  It  would  appear  then  that  the  ease  with  which 
cities  were  subjected  to  the  control  of  the  state  was  due  to  two 
main  circumstances.  In  the  first  place  what  at  one  time  had 
been  of  merely  local  interest  had  become  of  general  state  in- 
terest, owing  to  a  widening  of  social  and  economic  interests, 
and  to  the  adoption  of  a  general  state  law  which  regulated 
these  interests.  That  which  was  true  of  the  law  was  also  true 
of  the  other  matters  whose  regulation  by  the  cities  was  necessary 
if  the  commercial  classes  were  to  have  the  opportunities  for  action 
which  they  desired.  Like  the  law  merchant,  these  matters  were 
afterwards  regulated  by  the  national  state,  which  bore  in  mind 
the  interests  of  the  commercial  classes  now  become  of  great 
importance  to  the  state,  and  exercising  great  influence  over  its 
policy.  The  reasons  for  political  independence  on  the  part  of 
the  cities  having  ceased,  the  cities  made  little  serious  resistance 
to  the  attempt  upon  the  part  of  the  states  to  subject  them  to 
their  power.  We  may  say,  indeed,  that  the  cities  ceased  to 
have  an  excuse  for  existing  as  separate  and  independent  com- 
munities after  the  widening  of  social  and  economic  interests 
which  made  possible  the  national  state,  and  from  that  time 


THE  CITY  AS  AN  ADMINISTRATIVE  DISTRICT      77 

cities  everywhere  throughout  Europe  became  a  part  of  the  new 
system  of  political  organization  which  was  thus  developed. 

In  the  second  place,  the  oligarchical  government  which  cities 
everywhere  seem  to  have  developed  was  undoubtedly  a  reason 
why  no  serious  resistance  to  subjection  to  state  power  was 
made.  This  government  was  everywhere  accompanied  by  the 
exploitation  of  the  many  by  the  few.  The  cradles  of  liberty, 
as  cities  have  often  been  called,  had  become  engines  of  oppression 
whose  preservation  could  not  be  expected  to  arouse  enthusiasm 
on  the  part  of  the  oppressed. 

Cities  had  thus  become  incapable  of  discharging  satisfactorily 
the  functions  which  they  had  formerly  discharged.  Meantime 
the  new  governments  which  arose  through  the  formation  of  the 
national  states,  and  which  showed  much  more  vitality  and  vigor 
than  the  anachronistic  and  degenerate  city  governments,  natu- 
rally assumed  control  of  the  cities. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE   CITY  AS  AN   ORGAN   FOR   THE   SATISFACTION   OF   LOCAL   NEEDS 

References : 

Fairlie,  J.  A.,  "Municipal  Administration,"  pp.  54-122.  Fairlie,  J.  A., 
"Essays  in.  Municipal  Administration,"  Chap.  IV.  Goodnow,  F.  J.,  "City 
Government  in  the  United  States,"  Chap.  III.  Goodnow,  F.  J.,  "Municipal 
Problems,"  Chap.  I.  Goodnow,  F.  J.,  "Municipal  Home  Rule,"  whole  vol- 
ume. Munro,  W.  B.,  "Government  of  American  Cities,"  Chap.  I.  Munro, 
W.  B.,  "Government  of  European  Cities,"  pp.  1-10,  113-117,  209-215. 
Howe,  F.  C.,  "The  British  City,"  Chaps.  II,  IV  and  V.  Shaw,  A.,  "Munic- 
ipal Government  in  Great  Britain,"  pp.  24-37.  Shaw,  A.,  "Municipal  Gov- 
ernment in  Continental  Europe,"  Chaps.  I,  VIII  and  IX.  Odgers,  W.  B. 
and  Naldrett,  E.  J.,  "Local  Government,"  Chap.  IV.  Webb,  S.  and  B., 
"English  Local  Government,"  Vol.  Ill,  Chap.  XI. 

Appearance  of  the  Modern  Municipal  Problem.  The  middle 
of  the  eighteenth  century  found  the  cities  of  Europe  small  and 
inconspicuous,  playing  no  important  part  in  the  economic  life 
of  the  state.  As  organs  of  government  they  served  only  as 
administrative  divisions  of  the  state.  The  growth  of  commerce 
and  the  substitution  of  the  factory  for  the  household  system 
of  industry,  which  came  with  the  industrial  revolution  in  the 
later  years  of  the  eighteenth  century,  resulted  in  the  massing 
of  population  in  cities  to  an  extent  hitherto  unknown.  A  result 
of  this  concentration  was  to  bring  into  prominence  problems 
of  housing,  sanitation,  lighting  and  local  improvements  generally, 
which  the  mediaeval  city  had  not  seriously  attempted  to  solve, 
but  for  which  those  of  the  nineteenth  century  must  find  solu- 
tion if  they  were  to  secure  even  tolerable  living  conditions. 

In  attempting  to  meet  the  new  demands  and  to  work  out 
a  solution  of  the  new  problems,  a  fundamental  step  was  the 
recognition  of  the  fact  that  the  city,  while  serving  as  an  admin- 
istrative agency  of  the  central  government,  as  in  the  preceding 

78 


THE  CITY  AS  AN  ORGAN  FOR  LOCAL  NEEDS   79 

period,  should,  at  the  same  time,  have  a  distinct  existence  as 
an  organization  for  the  satisfaction  of  local  needs.  Hence  it 
may  be  said  that  the  city  came,  during  the  nineteenth  century, 
to  hold  a  dual  position  in  the  state :  First,  as  an  administrative 
division  of  the  state  j  and  second,  as  an  organ  of  local  govern- 
ment. With  the  recognition  of  this  second  function  there  have 
come  to  the  city  gradually,  through  legislation  in  most  of  the 
European  countries  as  well  as  in  the  United  States,  both  authority 
to  undertake  a  wider  range  of  activities  of  a  local  character, 
and  an  organization  adapted  to  the  newer  and  broader  purposes. 

European  Municipal  Legislation.  The  first  important  piece  of 
European  legislation  which  recognized  that  the  city,  in  addition 
to  being  an  agent  of  state  government,  was  an  organization 
for  the  satisfaction  of  local  needs,  was  the  Prussian  Cities  Act 
of  1808.  This  act  recognized  that  each  city  had  a  sphere  of 
activity  and  property  apart  from  the  state  and  gave  to  the  city 
an  organization  which  in  its  outlines  and  characteristic  features 
has  remained  to  the  present  day.  This  organization  was  so 
formed  as  to  permit  of  voluntary  action  upon  the  part  of  the 
city  in  the  direction  of  satisfying  its  own  local  needs. 

The  Prussian  Act  of  1808  was  followed  in  England  by  the 
Municipal  Corporations  Act  of  1835,  which  gave  to  the  English 
municipal  borough  a  position  and  organization  very  similar  to 
those  which  had  been  devised  in  Prussia  for  the  Prussian  munic- 
ipal corporation.  Subsequent  legislation  amplified  the  power 
of  the  boroughs  making  them  competent  to  perform  all  the 
necessary  local  functions. 

France  followed  the  lead  given  by  Prussia  and  England,  and, 
by  a  series  of  laws  beginning  in  1830  and  ending  in  the  existing 
law  of  1884,  gave  to  her  cities  both  an  organization  and  powers 
of  local  self-government  which  permit  the  cities  to  attend  to 
the  distinctly  local  needs  of  modern  urban  life. 

The  kingdom  of  Sardinia,  which  later  developed  into  the 
present  kingdom  of  Italy,  provided,  under  the  influence  of  the 
revolutionary  ideas  of  the  year  1848,  for  her  cities,  local  coun- 
cils elected  by  the  larger  taxpayers.  The  electorate  was  en- 
larged in  1859.  The  movement  toward  according  to  the  cities 
of  Italy  greater  liberty  continued  uninterruptedly  and,  after 


80 

the  union  of  Italy  in  1870,  new  laws  were  passed,  namely,  the 
present  law  of  1889  as  to  the  general  powers  of  cities,  and  a  law 
of  1903  as  to  the  operation  by  the  cities  of  public  utilities,  which 
greatly  enlarged  the  powers  of  local  government  possessed  by  the 
cities,  and  recognized  that  they  were  not  merely  agents  of  the 
central  government,  but  as  well  organizations  for  the  satisfac- 
tion of  local  needs. 

American  Municipal  Legislation.  American  municipal  institu- 
tions were  borrowed  from  those  of  England  as  they  existed  prior 
to  the  adoption  of  the  Municipal  Corporations  Act  of  1835. 
Hence  the  city  charters,  colonial  and  state,  well  into  the  nine- 
teenth century  were  based  primarily  upon  the  mediaeval  notion 
that  a  special  judicial  organization  was  necessary  in  municipali- 
ties. The  sphere  of  government  recognized  in  these  charters  as 
possessed  by  the  cities  embraced  merely  the  three  rights  to  exer- 
cise judicial  powers  through  the  special  courts  that  were  estab- 
lished; to  issue  police  regulations;  and  to  manage  the  property 
with  which  the  city  was  endowed  by  the  charter,  or  of  which  it 
became  possessed  in  some  way.  The  cities  were  not  recognized 
as  possessing,  in  the  absence  of  legislative  authorization,  any 
power  to  tax  their  inhabitants,  but  were  restricted,  so  far  as  in- 
come was  concerned,  to  the  fines  that  might  be  imposed  in  their 
courts  and  to  the  revenue  from  their  property.  They  generally, 
however,  possessed  the  borrowing  power,  and  when  their  debts 
became  so  great  as  to  cause  anxiety  they  resorted  to  various  ex- 
pedients, such  as  lotteries,  in  order  to  pay  their  debts. 

As  will  be  brought  out  more  fully  in  the  succeeding  chapter, 
the  cities  derived  all  their  powers  from  the  legislature  through 
their  charters.  Since  these  powers  were  strictly  enumerated,  it 
became  necessary,  as  the  sphere  of  municipal  activity  broadened 
with  the  development  of  new  city  needs,  to  make  continual  appli- 
cations to  the  legislature  for  new  powers.  These  powers  when 
asked  for  by  particular  cities  and  upon  the  justification  for  the 
request  being  shown  in  actual  conditions,  were  usually  granted. 
With  the  multiplication  of  requests  many  of  which  were  identical 
for  different  cities,  certain  proposed  grants  of  power  came  to  be 
recognized  as  "usual"  and  were  granted  almost  as  a  matter  of 
course  upon  application.  Others  less  frequently  applied  for,  and 


THE  CITY  AS  AN  ORGAN  FOR  LOCAL  NEEDS       81 

bearing  the  mark  of  novelty,  were  granted  less  readily,  and  only 
after  deliberation  if  not  in  the  face  of  actual  opposition.  By  the 
middle  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  avalanch  of  applications  for 
new  charters  and  special  grants  in  amplification  of  old  ones, 
which  descended  upon  legislatures  at  each  session,  led,  along  with 
other  causes,  to  be  investigated  later  in  our  study,  to  the  adop- 
tion in  many  states  of  general  laws  for  cities.  These  general 
laws  contained,  besides  other  provisions,  a  grant  to  all  cities  of  the 
state  of  practically  all  of  the  powers  which  had  come  to  be  looked 
upon  as  "usual"  and  appropriate  for  cities.  These  general 
laws  together  with  the  precedents  set  in  the  special  acts  consti- 
tuted in  course  of  time  recognition  of  the  city  as  an  organ  of 
local  government  and  of  a  sphere  of  activity  which  belonged  to  it 
as  such. 

It  will  be  found  also  in  the  succeeding  chapter  that  the  position 
of  the  city  in  the  governmental  system  thus  recognized  has  in 
course  of  time  been  given  through  the  state  constitution  protec- 
tion against  legislative  invasion. 

Change  in  Municipal  Functions.  It  has  been  seen  that  the 
growth  of  centralized  states  in  Europe  resulted  in  the  assumption 
by  the  state  of  one  after  another  of  the  functions  performed  by 
the  mediaeval  city  until  the  city,  if  performing  any  function  of 
government  at  all,  did  so  merely  as  an  administrative  subdivision 
of  the  state.  An  examination  of  just  what  is  the  nature  of  the 
functions  conferred  upon  cities  both  in  England  and  in  America 
during  the  nineteenth  century  shows  that  the  action  of  state 
governments  in  giving  a  wider  range  of  powers  did  not  after  all 
reverse  the  judgment  arrived  at  during  the  eighteenth  century. 
It  was  not  merely  that  the  city  had  been  tried  and  found  want- 
ing in  capacity  to  discharge  a  whole  series  of  administrative  func- 
tions, but  that  matters  that  were  at  one  time  looked  upon  as  of 
municipal  interest  merely  had  come  to  be  viewed  as  of  interest  to 
the  state  at  large.  The  administration  of  such  matters  was  to  re- 
main wholly  or  chiefly  with  the  state.  It  was  a  quite  new  and 
wholly  different  range  of  powers  with  which  the  city  found  itself 
endowed  as  a  result  of  the  newer  course  of  development.  In 
order  to  appreciate  more  precisely  the  extent  to  which  the  con- 
ception of  the  proper  sphere  of  the  city  had  changed,  it  will  be 


82  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

well  to  examine  the  matter  historically  with  respect  to  the 
accepted  classification  of  administrative  functions  in  general,  viz. 
foreign,  military,  judicial,  financial  and  internal  affairs. 

Foreign  Affairs.  When  the  city  lost  its  independent  position 
as  a  city-state,  it  lost  the  right  to  discharge  any  functions  rela- 
tive to  foreign  affairs.  In  the  mediaeval  days  of  municipal  inde- 
pendence, the  cities  had  in  many  cases,  as  has  been  seen,  entered 
into  foreign  relations.  They  thus  formed  leagues  with  other 
cities,  of  which  the  Hanseatic  League  is  a  well-known  example.1 
In  modern  times  the  city  is  permitted  no  share  whatsoever  in  for- 
eign affairs. 

Military  Affairs.  What  had  been  said  with  respect  to  the 
position  of  the  city  as  to  foreign  affairs  may  be  repeated  sub- 
stantially as  to  military  affairs.  In  former  days  the  city  had  im- 
portant military  duties  to  perform.  Many  cities,  indeed,  had 
their  own  armies,  or  train  bands  as  they  were  sometimes  called.2 

It  is,  of  course,  true  that  even  now  in  countries  like  the  states 
of  the  United  States,  in  which  there  exists  a  citizen  soldiery, 
cities  or  city  officers  may  have  assigned  to  them  by  the  state 
the  establishment,  maintenance  and  care  of  armories,  and  the 

1  Prof.  Ashley  says  of  the  English  cities,  "Economic  History,"  Part  II, 
p.  94,   cited  in  Wilcox,   "The  Study  of  City  Government,"  p.   76:     "Be- 
fore the  close  of  the  Middle  Ages  England  was  covered  with  a  network 
of  intermunicipal  agreements  to  exempt  the  burghers  of  the  contracting 
towns  from  tolls  when  they  came  to  trade;  and  these  unquestionably  led 
the  way  to  more  complete  freedom.     They  are   indeed  almost  the  exact 
parallels,    in   that    stage   of    economic   development,   to   the   international 
treaties  of  reciprocity  by  the  aid  of  which  many  modern  politicians  expect 
to   reach  universal   free  trade.     They   began   as   early  as   the  thirteenth 
century;    Winchester   and   Southampton  entere'd   into  such  a  contract  in 
1265,   and   Salisbury  and   Southampton   in    1330,   and  they  became  more 
frequent  as  time  went  on." 

2  As  Dr.  Wilcox  says,  "The  Study  of  City  Government,"  p.  25:     "The 
feudal  cities  as  well  as  the  ancient  city-states  often  had  their  own  armies 
and  were  not  slow  to  use  them  against  each  other.     Soldiers  of  the  city 
of  London  played  an  important  r6le  in  the  early  internal  and  other  wars 
of  England."     Dr.   Wilcox  quotes    (p.   77)    Mrs.  J.  R.  Green  as  saying: 
"The  inhabitants  defended  their  own  territory,  built  and  maintained  their 
walls  and  towers,  armed  their  own  soldiers,  trained  them  for  service  and 
held  reviews  of  their  forces  at  appointed  times." 


THE  CITY  AS  AN  ORGAN  FOR  LOCAL  NEEDS      83 

partial  support  of  a  military  establishment,  but  the  soldiers  for 
which  such  provision  is  made  are  regarded  as  state  and  not  city 
troops,  and  are  under  command  of  officers  who  receive  their  com- 
missions from  the  state  and  not  the  city  government,  and  are 
governed  by  the  military  law  of  the  state  and  not  of  the  city. 
Duties  relative  to  military  affairs  are  imposed  upon  the  cities  in 
certain  cases,  not  -because  military  affairs  are  considered  as  a 
municipal  function,  but  in  order  to  provide  a  convenient  method 
of  defraying  a  part  of  the  expenses  of  the  state  government. 

Judicial  Aifairs.  "What  has  been  said  with  regard  to  military 
affairs  may  with  some  modifications  be  repeated  with  regard  to 
judicial  affairs.  The  cities  in  former  days  almost  universally 
had  important  judicial  functions  to  discharge.  Indeed,  the 
origin  of  the  modern  municipal  organization,  it  has  been  shown, 
is  to  be  found  in  the  judicial  organization.  In  almost  all  modern 
states  the  administration  of  justice  has  come  to  be  regarded  as  a 
function  of  the  state  and  not  of  the  municipal  government,  yet  it 
may  be  said  that  at  three  points  the  city  is  still  sometimes  con- 
cerned in  the  administration  of  justice.  First,  it  is  true  that 
quite  commonly  in  the  United  States  local  judicial  officers  exer- 
cising minor,  or  even  as  in  New  York,  higher  civil  and  criminal 
jurisdiction,  are  appointed  by  the  city  authorities  or  elected  by 
the  people  of  the  city.  Wherever  a  special  judicial  organiza- 
tion, which  provides  for  the  local  selection  of  judges,  has  thus 
been  established  in  the  city,  it  must  be  said  that  in  such  cases  the 
city  has  been  assigned  a  share  in  the  administration  of  justice. 
This  is  so  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  decisions  of  these 
local  courts  may  be  subjected  to  the  supervisory  control  of  the 
state  courts.  The  arrangements  which  are  made  in  cities  rela- 
tive to  the  administration  of  justice  have  an  important  influence 
on  its  government,  particularly  where  the  judicial  control  over 
municipal  action  is  strong,  and  under  the  conditions  to  which 
reference  has  been  made  this  control  comes  to  have  the  nature 
of  a  self-control. 

Second :  What  is  true  of  the  administration  of  justice  gener- 
ally is  also  true  of  that  part  of  it  which  affects  solely  the  prosecu- 
tion of  crime.  In  cities  which  comprise  the  whole  of  one  or  more 


84  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

counties,  where  the  American  practice  of  electing  the  public 
prosecutor  is  adopted,  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  prosecution 
of  crime  also  is  really  a  municipal  function. 

Third :  Provision  may  be  made,  as  in  the  case  of  the  adminis- 
tration of  military  affairs,  for  the  payment  by  the  city  of  all  or 
part  of  the  expenses  of  the  administration  of  justice.  This,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  is  the  general  rule  in  the  United  States. 

In  all  these  cases,  however,  the  city  is  acting  as  the  agent  of  the 
state  government  in  the  discharge  of  a  function  of  government 
which  is  now  recognized  almost  universally  as  belonging  of 
right  to  the  state,  but  which  the  state  has  delegated  to  the  city, 
either  because  it  is  more  convenient  for  the  city  than  for  the 
state  itself  to  assume  the  discharge  of  this  function,  or  out  of 
regard  for  historical  tradition.  If,  however,  the  city  is  pro- 
tected by  the  constitution  of  the  state  in  its  right  to  select  judicial 
officers,  the  right  of  the  government  of  the  state  to  assume 
judicial  powers  is  by  so  much  limited. 

Financial  Affairs.  In  the  domain  of  financial  affairs  the  city 
not  only  acts  as  the  agent  of  the  state,  but  also  performs  financial 
functions  in  its  own  behalf.  As  agent  of  the  state,  it  has  been 
seen,  it  may  pay  the  expenses  of  certain  branches  of  state  ad- 
ministration and  it  may  also  be  made  the  agent  of  the  state  for 
the  collection  of  state  revenues.  A  large  number  of  the  cities  in 
the  United  States  collect  for  the  state  most  of  the  taxes  from 
which  the  expenses  of  the  state  government  are  defrayed. 

Acting  in  their  own  behalf,  practically  all  cities  perform  cer- 
tain financial  functions  of  taxation  and  appropriation.  The 
grant  to  the  city  of  such  powers  would  seem  to  be  almost  neces- 
sary if  the  city  is  to  be  permitted  to  live  a  life  separate  and  apart 
from  that  of  the  state.  It  is  of  course  possible  for  the  state 
itself  to  collect  all  the  public  revenues  and  to  apportion  its  share 
to  each  city  in  the  state.  While  there  is,  perhaps,  no  state  which 
adopts  such  a  policy  exclusively,  it  is  still  true  that  a  large  part 
of  the  revenues  of  the  cities  in  certain  countries  come  from  such 
a  source.  This  is  so  both  in  England  and  in  the  United  States, 
where  the  central  state  government  makes  large  grants  to  the 
cities  for  the  purpose  of  education.  As  a  general  thing,  how- 
ever, most  of  the  revenue  of  the  cities  comes  from  the  exercise 


THE  CITY  AS  AN  ORGAN  FOE  LOCAL  NEEDS      85 

by  the  cities  of  financial  powers  in  their  own  interest.     Here 
they  cannot  be  regarded  as  acting  as  state  agents. 

Internal  Affairs.  The  domain  of  internal  affairs  is  that  branch 
of  administration  which  embraces  all  matters  not  included  in 
any  one  of  the  other  four.  It  is  somewhat  of  the  nature  of  a 
catch-all,  and  the  various  subjects  included  within  it  are  on  that 
account  difficult  of  classification.  At  the  same  time  it  may  be 
said  that  these  subjects  fall  under  one  of  two  heads,  police  and 
public  welfare. 

The  characteristic  of  the  class  of  subjects  falling  under  the  first 
head,  namely,  police,  is  that  the  action  of  the  government  with 
regard  to  them  limits  the  freedom  of  action  of  the  individual. 
Examples  are  the  preservation  of  peace,  the  care  of  the  public 
health  and  the  protection  of  the  public  safety.  In  all  of  these 
cases  the  government  secures  its  object  by  obliging  the  individual 
to  live  in  such  a  way,  to  pursue  such  a  course  of  conduct  as  will 
not  violate  the  public  peace  and  will  conduce  to  a  state  of  public 
health  and  safety. 

The  characteristic  of  the  class  of  subjects  falling  under  the 
second  head,  namely,  public  welfare,  is  that  the  action  of  the 
government  with  regard  to  them,  except  incidentally  and  in  rare 
instances,  does  not  limit  the  individual's  freedom  of  action,  but 
on  the  contrary  enlarges  the  scope  of  his  opportunity,  by  offering 
to  him  the  means  of  improving  his  material  and  intellectual  well- 
being.  Examples  are  the  maintenance  of  means  of  communica- 
tion, the  provision  of  means  of  education,  the  support  of 
the  poor  and  the  construction  and  maintenance  of  local  improve- 
ments. 

Whether  belonging  in  the  class  denominated  police  or  in  that 
denominated  public  welfare,  it  may  be  seen  upon  examination 
that  with  respect  to  state  interests  the  subjects  included  in 
internal  affairs  fall  into  three  categories.  In  the  first  place,  the 
preservation  of  internal  peace  and  the  protection  of  the  public 
safety  are,  like  military  and  foreign  affairs,  recognized  as  state 
functions,  and  though  under  our  decentralized  system  their  ad- 
ministration is,  to  a  great  extent,  vested  in  local  officers,  their 
action  is  distinctly  that  of  a  state  agency. 

In  the  second  place,  there  is  a  range  of  activities  in  the  dis- 


86  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

charge  of  which  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  people  of  the  state 
as  a  whole  have  a  real  interest  although  that  interest  may  be  but 
indirect  and  secondary.  The  preservation  of  the  public  health  is 
first  of  all  a  matter  of  vital  importance  to  the  locality,  but  since 
many  diseases  are  contagious,  unsanitary  conditions  in  the  city 
may  imperil  the  health  of  the  whole  state.  Consequently  the 
state  as  a  whole  has  a  real  interest  in  the  health  of  every  city. 
Again,  ignorance  on  the  part  of  the  municipal  population  may 
exert  an  influence  upon  the  people  of  the  state  as  a  whole  since 
it  may  affect  the  political  capacity  of  the  municipal  popula- 
tion, who  at  the  same  time  that  they  are  municipal  voters  are 
voters  at  state  elections.  Therefore  the  education  of  the  children 
of  the  city  is  recognized  as  of  interest  to  the  state  at  large. 

In  the  third  place,  in  that  group  of  activities  known  as  local 
improvements  the  interest  of  the  state  is  remote  if  it  exists  at  all. 
In  this  group  may  be  included  such  matters  as  water,  gas  and 
electric  light  works,  sewers,  means  of  intra-urban  communica- 
tion, and  the  means  of  recreation,  such  as  parks,  playgrounds, 
museums  and  libraries.  With  regard  to  these  things  it  may  be 
safely  said  that  the  city  is  not  acting  as  the  agent  of  the  state  but 
as  an  organization  for  the  satisfaction  of  the  local  needs  of  the 
municipal  population  which  are  not  felt  by  the  people  of  the 
state  as  a  whole. 

Present  Functions  of  the  City.  We  may  conclude  from  the 
foregoing  consideration  of  the  relation  of  the  city  to  the  various 
administrative  functions  of  government  that  in  the  last  three  or 
four  centuries  it  has  come  about  that  almost  all  powers  for  the 
exercise  of  which  the  cities  have  struggled  since  the  dawn  of 
municipal  government  in  the  middle  ages,  have  been  recognized 
as  functions  of  state  rather  than  municipal  government.  The 
exercise  of  certain  of  these  powers  has  been  assumed  by  the 
state  itself,  and  the  cities  have  been  denied  any  share  whatever 
in  their  exercise.  This  is  true  of  powers  relating  to  foreign  and 
military  affairs  and  of  most  powers  relating  to  judicial  affairs. 

The  exercise  of  another  class  of  powers,  including  within  them 
some  judicial  powers  and  such  powers  as  relate  to  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  peace,  the  public  health,  the  care  of  the  poor  and  the 
schools,  has  not  been  assumed  exclusively  by  the  state.  The 


THE  CITY  AS  AN  ORGAN  FOR  LOCAL  NEEDS       87 

state,  on  the  contrary,  permits  the  city  to  share  in  their  exercise, 
but  regards  the  city  not  as  acting  exclusively  or  mainly  in  its  own 
interest,  but  rather  as  an  agent  of  the  state  government. 

It  has  been  found,  however,  that  the  massing  of  population 
in  cities  as  a  result  of  the  changes  in  economic  and  social  condi- 
tions which  began  at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century  has 
made  it  necessary  to  regard  the  city  as  something  more  than  an 
agent  of  the  state  government;  and  the  legislation  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  everywhere  granted  to  cities  large  powers  of 
a  distinctly  local  significance.  The  city,  as  a  result  of  this  legis- 
lation has  become  an  organization  for  the  satisfaction  of  local 
needs.  This  revival,  so  to  speak,  of  the  city,  which  took 
place  during  the  nineteenth  century,  was  thus  due,  not  so 
much  to  the  reversal  of  the  decision  as  to  the  position  of  the 
city  with  regard  to  the  powers  which  had  been  decided  to  be 
powers  of  state  government,  but  which  the  cities  had  claimed  the 
right  to  exercise,  as  to  the  belief  that  a  new  field  of  municipal 
activity,  that  already  designated  as  local  improvements,  quite 
apart  from  the  interests  of  the  state  as  a  whole,  had  been  opened 
which  the  city  must  occupy.  It  is  a  field  which  has  come  to  be 
known  as  municipal  affairs  and  it  is  because  the  city  has  at- 
tempted, during  the  nineteenth  century,  in  most  cases  with  con- 
siderable success,  to  occupy  this  field  that  we  have  a  municipal 
problem. 


CHAPTER  VI 

POSITION   OF  THE   CITY  IN   THE  STATE 
REFERENCES : 

Munro,  W.  B.,  "Government  of  American  Cities/'  Chaps.  Ill  and  IV. 
Goodnow,  F.  J.,  "Municipal  Problems,"  Chaps.  II,  III  and  IV.  Rowe,  L. 
S.,  "Problems  of  City  Government,"  Chaps.  VI  and  VII.  Deming,  H.  E., 
"Government  of  American  Cities,"  Chaps.  I,  III,  VIII  and  IX.  Howe, 
F.  C.,  "The  Modern  City  and  its  Problems/'  Chaps.  VI,  VII  and  VIII. 
Eaton,  D.  B.,  "Government  of  Municipalities,"  Chaps.  I,  II,  III  and  XII. 
Pollock,  H.  M.,  and  Morgan,  W.  S.,  "Modern  Cities,"  Chap.  X.  McBain, 
H.  L.,  "The  Law  and  the  Practice  of  Municipal  Home  Rule,"  Chaps.  I,  II, 
III  and  XVIII.  Academy  of  Political  Science,  "Proceedings,"  Vol.  V,  No. 
2,  pp.  1-79.  Goodnow,  F.  J.,  "Municipal  Home  Rule,"  whole  volume. 
Miller,  G.  A.,  "The  Home  Rule  Law  for  Citiea  in  Michigan,"  "Proceedings 
of  the  National  Municipal  League,"  1909,  pp.  229-248.  Wilcox,  D.  F., 
"The  American  City,"  Chap.  XI. 

Subordinate  Position  of  the  City.  It  will  have  been  seen  that 
the  great  contribution  of  the  nineteenth  century  to  municipal 
government,  both  in  Europe  and  America,  was  the  establishment 
of  the  dual  personality  of  the  city  and  the  delimination,  more  or 
less  clearly,  of  a  sphere  in  jvhich  the  city  is  given  a  considerable 
degree  of  freedom  of  action  in  local  affairs.  At  the  same  time 
the  fact  must  not  be  lost  sight  of  that  the  city  is  a  subordinate 
governmental  body.  Its  position  in  the  governmental  system  is 
determined  first  of  all  by  its  legal  status,  including  not  only  its 
legal  nature  but  the  powers  and  responsibilities  vested  in  it  by 
the  state  of  which  it  is  a  part.  Furthermore,  just  as  the  actual 
government  of  a  state  cannot  be  understood  by  a  study  confined  to 
the  organization  formulated  in  the  law,  so  to  understand  the  true 
place  of  the  city  in  the  state,  it  is  necessary  to  know,  not  only 
its  place  in  the  legislative  system,  but  also  the  extra-legal  politi- 
cal forces  which  in  their  operation  may  seriously  modify  the 
action  of  the  formal  legal  organization.  Hence  it  becomes  neces- 
sary to  take  up  first,  the  legal  position  of  the  city,  and  second,  its 
extra-legal  or  political  position. 

88 


POSITION  OF  THE  CITY  IN  THE  STATE          89 

Definitions.  As  now  constituted  in  the  United  States,  the  city 
may  be  defined  as  an  urban  area  constituted  as  a  municipal  cor- 
poration having  a  double  purposfe!:  first,  as  an  adjajnjgtratiye_djis- 
trict;  and  second,  as  an, organ  of  local  ffoyefpTriftTit 

A  municipal  corporation  has  been  defined  as : — ' '  A  body  poli- 
tic and  corporate  constituted  by  the  incorporation  of  the  in- 
habitants of  a  city  or  town  for  the  purposes  of  local  government. 
It  authorizes  them  in  a  corporate  capacity  to  exercise  specific 
subordinate  powers  of  legislation  and  regulation  with  respect  to 
local  concerns. ' ' * 

As  a  form  of  public  corporation,  the  city  is  created  for  pur- 
poses of  government  and  to  satisfy  the  local  needs  of  the  in- 
habitants, and  membership  in  the  corporation  is  involuntary.  In 
these  respects  it  differs  from  a  private  corporation  the  purpose 
of  which  is  pecuniary  gain  and  membership  in  which  is  volun- 
tary. . 

Legal  Status  of  the  City.  The  legal  status  of  the  city  in  Great 
Britain  and  in  the  United  States  is  determined,  first  of  all,  by  the 
fact  that  it  is  a  corporation.  As  such  it  is  created  by  the  state ; 
its  form  and  powers  are  derived  from  the  state,  and  even  its  ex- 
istence may  be  terminated  by  the  state.2  Under  English  law 
all  corporations,  public  and  private,  are  bodies  of  enumerated 
powers,  the  enumeration  thereof  being  made  in  more  or  less  de- 
tail by  the  supreme  legislative  body.  The  legal  presumption 
is  against  the  power  of  the  city  to  do  a  particular  thing.  If  a 
city  desires  to  exercise  a  power  which  it  has  been  determined  that 
it  does  not  already  possess,  it  must  apply  to  the  legislature,  the 
source  of  authority,  for  the  grant  to  it  of  that  power.  Not  only 
are  the  powers  of  cities  enumerated,  but  also  such  powers  as  are 
possessed  are  in  general  strictly  construed  by  the  courts. 

The  legal  status  of  a  municipality  is  determined  not  only  by 
the  fact  that  it  is  a  corporation  but,  in  the  second  place,  by  the 
fact  that  it  is  an  organization  for  the  performance  of  public 
functions  of  general  interest.  As  such  it  must  have  a  position 
such  that  its  power  shall  always  be  exercised  in  harmony  with 
the  general  welfare  of  the  whole  state. 

1  Dillon,  "Municipal  Corporations,"  4th  ed.,  Vol.  I,  p.  39. 

2  Berlin  v.  Gorham,  34  N.  H.,  p.  266. 


90  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

The  charters  or  acts  of  incorporation  which  prescribe  the 
organization  and  functions  of  municipal  corporations  and  define 
their  relations  to  the  state,  may  be  grouped,  with  respect  to  their 
source,  asV  first,  those  enacted  by  the  legislature;  and  second, 
those  made  and  adopted  by  the  cities  themselves.  The  charters 
enacted  by  the  legislature  may  be  classified  with  respect  to  their 
form  and  application  as  either  special  charters  or  general  laws. 

Special  Charters  in  England.  It  has  been  seen  already  that 
charters  of  municipal  incorporation  had  become  common  in  Eng- 
land by  the  time  of  the  Tudors,  and  that  their  number  was  in- 
creased from  time  to  time  down  to  the  close  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  The  charters  were  there,  as  elsewhere  throughout 
Europe,  special  in  character:  that  is,  a  charter  applied  only  to 
the  city  to  which  it  was  specially  granted.  The  law  regulating 
the  position  and  power  of  each  city  was  therefore  peculiar  to 
that  city.  It  was  this  form  of  incorporation  which  was  adopted 
in  the  United  States  where  it  has  been  adhered  to  more  persist- 
ently than  in  England.  The  passage  of  the  Municipal  Corpora- 
tions Act  of  1835  marked  the  substitution  by  England  of  the 
principle  of  the_general  law  for  that  of  special^  incorporation. 
The  chief  effect  of  this  act  was,  however,  merely  to  provide 
for  all  English  municipal  corporations  the  same  general  form  of 
organization.  While  all  corporations  were  given  the  same 
powers  by  this  act,  those  powers  were  enumerated  and  enumera- 
tion was  not  sufficiently  extensive  to  allow  for  the  development 
of  the  cities  whose  needs  were  in  any  way  peculiar.  Though 
there  were  later  other  acts  which  granted  further  powers  to  all 
cities,  yet  even  these  have  not  proved  sufficient  to  m*eet  the  needs 
of  all  cities.  Cities  peculiarly  situated  are  still  compelled  to 
apply  to  the  state  for  special  authority  to  exercise  powers  not 
conferred  by  the  general  laws. 

Special  Charters  in  the  "United  States.  Municipal  incorpora- 
tion, like  other  English  municipal  institutions,  was  quite  nat- 
urally adopted  in  America,  and  by  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolu- 
tion no  less  than  sixteen  municipal  corporations  were  in  existence 
in  the  colonies.  All  of  these  were  outside  of  New  England  where 
the  town  system  gave  to  the  urban  districts  a  form  of  government 


POSITION  OF  THE  CITY  IN  THE  STATE          91 

suited  to  their  needs.3  The  colonial  corporations  derived  their 
powers  from  the  colonial  governors  as  representatives  of  the 
crown.  Upon  the  separation  from  England  the  power  to  create 
municipal  corporations  passed  to  the  state  legislatures  and  munic- 
ipal charters  took  on  the  form  and  nature  of  statutes,  enacted, 
amended  and  repealed  like  other  statutes. 

These  charters  were,  as  has  been  said,  at  first,  special  in  char- 
acter, and  were  looked  upon  as  contracts  entered  into  between 
the  cities  and  the  state.  Until  near  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth 
century  no  other  form  of  charter  was  known,  but  about  that  time 
general  municipal  corporation  laws  appeared  in  several  of  the 
states.  At  the  present  time  only  a  comparatively  small  number  of 
the  states  ostensibly  retain  the  special  charter,  but  in  a  large 
number  of  states  where  the  special  charter  has  been  formally 
abandoned,  charter-making  is,  through  the  device  of  classifica- 
tion, almost  as  special  in  fact_as jt  ever  was.  Apart  then,  from  a 
small  number  of  states,  it  may  be  said  SiaT  charters  of  cities  are 
almost  as  special  as  when  we  received  our  system  of  city  govern- 
ment from  England.  These  charters  are  special  with  regard  not 
merely  to  the  powers  which  the  city  possesses,  but  as  well  to  the 
organization  with  which  it  is  provided. 

The  special  charters  were,  especially  in  the  earlier  years,  ordi- 
narily drawn  in  accordance  with  the  desires  of  the  community 
and  granted  in  response  to  petition.  Since  they  contained  pro- 
vision for  such  organization  as  the  petitioners  sought,  their 
variety  was  as  great  as  the  ideas  and  needs  of  the  city  receiving 
them. 

The  General  Law.  As  has  been  said,  the  passage  of  the  Munici- 
pal Corporations  Act  in  England  marks  the  adoption  there  of  the 
idea  of  the  general  law  of  incorporation  for  municipalities. 
Though  this  act  did  not  make  future  special  charter  legislation 
unnecessary,  the  subsequent  general  acts  have  gone  far  toward 
removing  the  necessity  for,  as  well  as  the  temptation  to,  volumi- 
nous special  legislation. 

The  narrow  range  of  powers  granted  and  the  necessity  of 

3  Fairlie,  "Essays  in  Municipal  Administration,"  p.  48. 


92  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

widening  the  sphere  of  municipal  activity  brought  about  by  the 
new  community  needs  have  made  necessary,  in  this  country,  con- 
tinual applications  to  the  legislature  for  new  powers.  This  con- 
stant application  to  the  legislature  and  the  action  of  that  body  in 
imposing  regulations  where  not  sought  led  to  so  many  abuses 
that,  about  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century,  a  number  of 
states  by  constitutional  mandate  prohibited  the  enactment  of 
special  legislation  for  the  incorporation  of  cities,  and  in  some 
cases  added  the  injunction  that  general  laws  for  the  incorpora- 
tion and  government  of  cities  be  passed.  Such  general  laws  now 
on  the  statute  books  of  a  majority  of  the  states  constitute  virtu- 
ally standard  uniform  charters  for  all  cities  in  the  state,  or  at 
least  for  all  cities  of  the  same  class.  Such  acts  are  usually  made 
mandatory  upon  all  existing  cities  and  all  other  urban  communi- 
ties having  a  specified  number  of  inhabitants  which  have  ex- 
pressed a  desire  by  popular  vote  to  become  incorporated.  Under 
these  laws  incorporation  is  completed  by  the  filing  of  a  certificate 
of  such  vote  and  the  compliance  with  certain  slight  formalities. 
In  some  states  two  standard  laws,  or,  in  others  alternative  pro- 
visions, affecting  usually  the  form  of  organization,  have  been 
enacted.  This  latter  practice  has  grown  up  since  the  intro- 
duction of  the  commission  and  commission-manager  forms  of  city 
government.  In  certain  states,  when  not  positively  forbidden 
in  the  constitution,  special  charters  have  continued  to  be  granted 
after  a  general  law  was  provided. 

Contents  of  the  Charter.  The  American  municipal  charter  or 
law  of  municipal  incorporation  contains  three  principal  ele- 
ments:— 1.  The  clauses  .creating  or  perpetuating  the  incorpora- 
tion ;  2.  A  description,  more  or  less  in  detail,  of  the  governmental 
organization  of  the  corporation,  and,  3.  An  enumeration  of  the 
powers  conferred  upon  the  city. 

The  incorporation  clause  usually  declares  the  city  to  be  a 
"body  corporate  and  politic,"  and  confers  upon  it  the  common 
corporate  powers:  perpetual  succession;  the  use  of  a  common 
seal ;  the  power  to  acquire,  hold  and  alienate  property,  make  con- 
tracts, and  to  sue  and  be  sued. 

The  form  of  governmental  organization  is  prescribed  in  some 
detail,  and  includes  the  specification  of  the  organs  of  government, 


POSITION  OF  THE  CITY  IN  THE  STATE          93 

election  provisions,  organization  of  the  legislative  body,  the  ad- 
ministrative organization,  the  officers,  their  manner  of  election, 
tenure  of  office  and  duties.  These  will  be  taken  up  and  discussed 
at  length  in  chapters  VIII  to  XV. 

Powers  of  Cities.  The  chief  original  purpose  of  English  munic- 
ipal incorporation  was  not  to  promote  local  government  but  to 
create  legal  persons  who  might  hold  property  and  have  standing 
in  the  courts  of  law.  To  this  end  these  corporations  were  made 
subjects  of  the  private  law  and  their  sphere  of  activity  was  made 
very  narrow,  including  few  of  the  matters  now  thought  of  as  of 
municipal  concern. 

The  earliest  charters  in  the  United  States  granted  merely  the 
right  to  exercise  judicial  power  through  special  city  courts,  issue 
police  regulations,  and  manage  the  property  with  which  the  city 
was  endowed  by  the  charter  or  which  came  into  its  pos- 
session in  any  other  way.  They  were  not  recognized  as  pos- 
sessing, in  the  absence  of  legislative  authorization,  any  power  to 
tax  their  inhabitants  but  were  restricted,  so  far  as  income  was 
concerned,  to  the  fines  which  might  be  imposed  in  their  courts 
and  to  the  revenue  from  their  property.  While  the  English 
cities  did  not,  until  the  second  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
play  any  important  part  in  local  government,  the  American 
municipal  corporations,  when  the  newer  community  needs  de- 
manded governmental  recognition,  at  once  adapted  themselves  to 
the  new  demands  and  assumed  the  new  functions  as  a  matter  of 
course. 

The  powers  now  usually  conferred  upon  cities  in  the  United 
States  may  be  briefly  summarized  as : 

1.  The  powers  incident  to  all  corporations. 

2.  The  power  to  levy  taxes  and  borrow  money. 

3.  The  power  to  appropriate  and  spend  money. 

4.  The  power  to  perform  certain  public  services. 

5.  The  power  to  enact  and  enforce  local  police  ordinances. 
The  detailed  consideration  of  these  several  powers  and  the 

manner  of  their  exercise,  which  more  properly  belongs  with  the 
discussion  of  the  organs  of  government  in  which  they  are  vested, 
will  appear  in  a  later  chapter.  Here  certain  general  aspects  only 
will  be  considered. 


94  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

When  municipal  corporations  took  on  municipal  functions  and 
assumed  their  places  as  public  corporations  performing  subordi- 
nate services  for  the  state,  they  carried  over  certain  character- 
istics of  the  private  corporation  which  have  deeply  affected  their 
status  as  organs  of  government.  These  inheritances  from  the 
private  law  relate  to : — 

1.  The  scope  of  their  powers. 

2.  Their  legal  liability. 

Scope  of  Municipal  Powers.  It  has  already  been  said  that,  like 
'  a  private  corporation,  the  city  is  a  body  of  strictly  enumerated 
powers;  and  likewise,  that  the  legal  presumption  is  against  the 
power  of  the  city  to  do  any  particular  thing.  In  this  connection 
the  principle  of  law  has  been  laid  down  that  such  corporations 
( '  can  exercise  no  powers  but  those  that  are  conferred  upon  them 
by  the  act  by  which  they  are  constituted,  or  such  as  are  necessary 
to  the  exercise  of  their  corporate  powers,  the  performance  of 
their  corporate  duties,  and  the  accomplishment  of  the  purposes  of 
their  association. "  4  If  it  is  desired  to  ascertain  whether  a  city 
may  do  a  specific  thing,  for  example,  to  build  and  operate  a 
public  market,  it  is  necessary  to  examine  the  law  in  order  to  find 
out  whether  such  a  power  has  been  expressly  or  impliedly  con- 
ferred upon  the  city. 

Furthermore,  as  has  been  noted,  not  only  are  the  powers  of 
cities  enumerated,  but  also  such  powers  as  they  possess  are 
strictly  rather  than  liberally  construed  by  the  courts.  The  scope 
of  municipal  powers  and  the  principle  applied  in  their  interpre- 
tation is  set  forth  by  a  leading  authority  thus : — ' '  It  is  a  general 
and  undisputed  proposition  of  law  that  a  municipal  corporation 
possesses  and  can  exercise  the  following  powers  and  no  others: 
first,  those  granted  in  express  words;  second,  those  necessarily 

/  I  or  fairly  implied  in  or  incident  to  the  powers  expressly  granted ; 
third,  those  essential  to  the  declared  objects  and  purposes  of  the 

\l  corporation, — not  simply  convenient  but  indispensable.  Any 
fair  reasonable  doubt  concerning  the  existence  of  a  power  is 
resolved  by  the  courts  against  the  corporation  and  the  power  is 
denied."6 

*Spaulding  v.  Lowell,  23  Pickering  (Mass.),  71. 

6  Dillon,  "Municipal  Corporations,"  4th  ed.,  Vol.  I,  p.  145. 


POSITION  OF  THE  CITY  IN  THE  STATE          95 

In  the  actual  adjudication  of  cases  this  rule  has  been  modified 
in  some  jurisdictions  in  favor  of  the  city  when  it  involves  the 
usual  forms  of  municipal  organization  or  one  of  the  functions 
ordinarily  exercised  by  such  corporations ;  but  when  interpreting 
grants  of  an  unusual  nature,  or  those  "which  may  result  in 
public  burdens,  or,  which  in  their  exercise,  touch  the  right  to 
liberty  or  property, ' ' 6  the  principle  will  be  strictly  adhered  to. 
An  examination  of  the  decisions  will  reveal  how  flexible  is  this 
rule,  and  how  hazy  is  the  distinction  between  the  two  classes  of 
cases. 

Under  these  conditions  of  enumeration  and  of  interpretationX 
unless  the  legislature  adopts  the  policy  of  general  grants  of  \ 
power,  cities  must  make  continual  application  to  the  legislature 
for  the  grant  of  the  new  powers  whose  exercise  the  development    / 
of  greater  complexity  in  urban  conditions  makes  necessary.     For   ' 
example,  in  the  year  1916,  it  required  a  special  act  of  the  legis- 
lature amending  the  charter  of  Taunton,  Mass.,7  to  authorize 
the^esjtablishment  of  a  dental  clinic  for  school  children ;  likewise, 
it  required  legislative  action  to  add  a  police  captain  and  two 
sergeants  to  the  police  force  of  Lackawanna,  N.  Y.8 

Legal  Liability  of  Municipal  Corporations.  With  respect  to  its 
legal  liability,  the  city  holds  a  position  between  that  of  the  state, 
which  is  not  responsible  for  its  acts,  and  that  of  the  private 
corporation,  which  is  liable  to  the  same  extent  as  a  private  indi- 
vidual. The  rules  of  legal  liability  applied  to  municipal  corpor- 
ations take  their  form  from  the  fact  that  these  corporations 
possess  two  ^  kinds  of  powers^^-first,  those  which  are 
governmental  ;rand  second,  those  which  are  private.  In  the  exer- 
cise of  the  first  class  the  city  is  acting  in  a  public  capacity,  is  a 
subject  of  public  law,  and  is  clothed  with  some  of  the  govern- 
mental attributes  of  sovereignty ;  in  the  exercise  of  the  second  it 
is  acting  in  the  capacity  of  a  private  corporate  person  under 
private  law  and  possesses  none  of  the  immunities  of  government.9 

«  Hid.  I,  p.  148. 

*  Mass.  Acts  and  Resolves,  1914,  p.  50. 
s  Laws  of  New  York,  1914,  p.  1624. 

»  Lloyd  v.  The  Mayor,  etc.,  of  New  York,  5  N.  Y.  p.  369 ;  55  Amer.  Dec. 
p.  347. 


96  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

Since  a  clear  perception  of  the  city's  legal  responsibilities  and 
immunities  may  assist  in  removing  the  mistaken  notion  that  the 
city  is  a  mere  business  organization,  it  may  be  well  to  examine 
the  effects  of  its  twofold  character  on  its  liability  in  contract  and 
in  tort. 

Liability  in  Contract.  In  performing  its  functions  both  govern- 
mental and  private  the  city  is  liable  on  its  contracts  in  much  the 
same  way  as  a  private  corporation.  While  on  grounds  of  public 
policy  the  courts  will  not  take  jurisdiction  to  enforce  a  contract 
against  the  state,  there  is  theoretical  liability  on  the  part  of  the 
state  for  contracts.  The  same  considerations  of  public  policy 
have  not  been  held  to  have  weight  with  respect  to  cities  to 
the  extent  of  relieving  them  from  such  liability.  Moreover,  one 
of  the  chief  purposes  of  the  incorporation  of  cities  was  that  they 
might  become  subject  to  the  private  law.10 

/  Liability  in  Tort.  With  respect  to  torts  the  general  rule  of 
law  is  that  when  acting  in  its  public  or  governmental  capacity 
the  city  is  not  liable,  but  that  it  is  liable  when  acting  in  its  cor- 
porate or  private  capacity.  The  rule  of  public  law  is  that  the 
state  is  not  liable  for  the  torts  of  its  agents.  The  same  immunity 
in  tort  is  extended  to  municipal  atrporations  acting  in  a  govern- 
mental capacity.  Contrary  to  the  rule  in  France  and  Germany, 
under  Anglo-American  usage,  the  immunity  from  liability  for 
tort  is  carried  over  by  the  state  when  it  enters  into  private  rela- 
tions. This  immunity,  however,  does  not  extend  to  the  munici- 
pal corporation  in  its  private  capacity.  In  respect  to  its  torts,  in 
its  private  relations  the  city  is  in  much  the  same  position  as  a 
private  corporation.  The  rules  thus  laid  down  are  compara- 
tively simple  in  the  statement,  but  in  the  application  the  line 
between  the  acts  which  are  public  and  those  which  are  private 
in  character  is  by  no  means  well  denned  and  the  distinctions 
made  are  far  from  clear.11 

Municipal  Administration  not  Business  but  Government.  It  is  a 
not  uncommon  remark  that  municipal  government  is,  after  all, 
not  truly  government,  but  that  "the  city  is  really  a  business 

10  Goodnow,  "Municipal  Home  Rule,"  pp.  180-183. 

11  Ibid.,  Chap.  VII. 


POSITION  OF  THE  CITY  IN  THE  STATE          97 

corporation  and  that  its  organization  should  be  determined  and 
its  management  conducted  on  what  are  called  'business  princi- 
ples.' "  This  idea,  which  has  gained  wide  currency,  has  arisen 
from  a  perception  of  the  ignorance,  waste  and  corruption  so  fre- 
quently displayed  as  the  result  of  the  injection  of  partisan  poli- 
tics and  the  spoils  system  into  the  city  affairs.  With  these  re- 
sults have  been  compared  the  efficiency  and  intelligence  displayed 
in  private  corporations  in  the  management  of  enterprises  identi- 
cal with,  or  at  least  not  unlike,  those  which  the  city  administra- 
tion is  called  upon  to  conduct.  This  failure  to  recognize  the 
public  or  governmental  side  of  city  government  is  no  less  a  mis- 
take than  the  failure  of  legislatures  to  recognize  and  respect  the 
private  or  corporate  side. 

As  a  public  corporation  the  municipality's  membership  in- 
cludes all  those  domiciled  within  its  limits,  but  the  private 
corporation  includes  only  those  who  are  pecuniarily  interested. 
With  respect  to  the  greater  share  of  its  activities  the  city  is 
exempt  from  liability  for  torts,  an  exemption  not  shared  by  the 
private  corporation ;  the  city  likewise  enjoys  an  exemption  from 
local  taxation  and  is  given  the  right  of  eminent  domain  in  pur- 
suing its  corporate  ends,  neither  of  which  privileges  is  usually 
enjoyed  by  the  private  corporation.  Moreover,  if  city  ad- 
ministration is  business  it  should  be  run  on  business  principles, 
i.e.,  to  make  profits;  but  as  government  its  objects  are  the  com- 
mon good,  to  provide  benefits  upon  many  of  which  no  precise 
money  value  can  be  placed,  and  to  find  the  most  equitable  method 
of  paying  for  these.  It  has  been  said  that  "municipal  corpora- 
tions are  organized  not  to  make  money,  but  to  spend  it."  The 
difference  between  city  government  and  other  government  is  that 
it  is  local. 

What  is  meant  by  those  who  would  identify  city  government 
with  business  is  that  in  the  general  financial  affairs  of  the  city 
as  well  as  in  cases  where  the  city  is  furnishing  services  of  a  dis- 
tinct money  value,  such  should  be  conducted  with  as  strict  regard 
to  economy,  efficiency  and  integrity,  and  with  a  view  to  securing 
to  the  community  and  the  individual  as  nearly  full  return  for 
expenditures  as  would  be  the  case  in  a  well  managed  business 
concern. 


98  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

Political  Position  of  the  City.  The  legal  position  of  the  city  in 
the  state,  both  in  England  and  in  America,  has  been  demonstrated 
to  be  one  of  complete  subordination.  This  does  not  necessarily 
mean  that  the  state  does  not  leave  to  the  city  any  freedom  of 
action  in  matters  of  local  concern.  This  it  may  or  may  not  do. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  as  has  been  pointed  out,  in  both  these  coun- 
tries such  a  sphere  of  action  has  been  recognized,  and  in  the 
United  States  this  has  been  protected  from  invasion  from  the 
state  government  by  constitutional  guaranties.  The  actual  ex- 
tent of  that  freedom  of  municipal  action  depends  not  so  much 
upon  constitutional  guaranties,  but  rather  upon  the  usage  or 
habit  of  the  dominant  political  authority  in  the  state  govern- 
ment, the  legislature.  It  may,  indeed,  be  the  case  that  in  those 
states  where  the  relations  of  the  central  government  of  the 
state  with  the  cities  are  regulated  by  usage  rather  than  by  con- 
stitutional law,  the  cities  have  a  wider  field  of  practically  unre- 
strained action  than  they  have  where  the  constitution  definitely 
assigns  to  the  cities  a  sphere  of  action  uncontrolled  by  any 
authorities  of  the  state  government.  Th^' place  which  the  city 
/actually  holds,  irrespective  of  its  legal  status,  is  spoken  of  as  its 
[political  position.  This  position  is  determined  first  of  all  by  the 
attitude  of  the  policy-directing  power  in  the  state,  the  legislature, 
and  in  the  second  place  by  the  general  extra-legal  political  situa- 
tion as  developed  through  the  working  of  the  party  system.  In 
fact  much  of  the  misuse  of  power  over  cities  by  the  legislature 
has  been  due  to  the  exigencies  of  the  partisan  political  situation. 
We  may  take  up  then  :-^-first,  the  attitude  of  the  legislature  to- 
ward the  city  and  the  developments  therefrom,  and,  second-,-  the 
relation  of  political  parties  to  the  problem  of  municipal  govern- 
ment in  the  United  States. 

Development  of  Legislative  Domination.  Turning  attention, 
then,  to  the  attitude  of  the  legislature  toward  the  municipalities, 
the  development  of  a  complete  legislative  domination  may  be 
traced.  One  result  of  the  doctrine  that  municipal  corporations 
are  bodies  of  enumerated  powers,  which  powers  are  to  be  strictly 
construed  against  the  corporation,  was,  as  has  been  said,  both 
in  England  and  in  the  United  States,  the  necessity  of  continual 
application  to  the  legislature  for  the  grant  of  new  powers  made 


POSITION  OF  THE  CITY  IN  THE  STATE          99 

desirable  by  the  increasing  complexity  of  urban  conditions.  The 
prevalence  of  the  special  charter  made  necessary  a  separate 
grant  for  each  new  need  in  each  city.  In  the  United  States  the 
principle  of  enacting  general  municipal  laws,  though  laid  down 
in  theory,  has  scarcely  anywhere  prevailed  in  practice  to  the 
complete  exclusion  of  what  are  virtually  special  acts,  though  the 
special  acts  are  frequently  disguised  under  the  form  of  general 
laws.  The  legislatures,  too,  have  been  disinclined  to  delegate 
authority  over  municipalities  to  administrative  officials.  The 
practice  of  repeated  applications  to  the  legislatures  made  neces- 
sary under  these  circumstances  has  led  those  bodies  to  fail  to 
recognize  that  there  is  a  field  of  action  on  purely  local  matters 
in  which  the  city  should  be  left  free  to  develop  its  own  policy 
and  determine  the  means  of  its  execution.  Instead,  there  has 
come  to  be  no  phase  of  municipal  government,  either  of  its  organ- 
ization or  its  functions,  as  to  which  the  legislature  has  not  felt 
perfectly  free  to  legislate.  In  the  earlier  days  when  charters 
were  looked  upon  as  contracts,  it  was  commonly  true,  as  was  said 
of  the  state  of  New  York,  that  it  was  "the  almost  invariable 
course  of  procedure  for  the  legislature  not  to  interfere  in  the 
internal  affairs  of  a  corporation  without  its  consent. ' ' 12  About 
the  middle  of  the  century,  however,  the  legislatures  began  to  pass 
laws  applicable  to  particular  cities  without  securing  their  con- 
sent, thus  abandoning  the  idea  that  charters  were  contracts.  In 
this  view  the  legislatures  were  sustained  by  the  courts  which  held 
that  acts  regulating  city  government  were  ordinary  acts  of 
legislation  susceptible  to  amendment  at  any  time  without  the 
concurrence  of  any  other  authority. 

This  gratuitous  regulation  of  the  affairs  of  cities  has  assumed 
two  principal  forms :-^first,  special  legislation,  relating  tP, the 
powers,  duties  and  responsibilities  of  individual  cities,  andf,  sec- 
ond, the  appointment  by  the  state  of  officers  usually  held  to  be 
municipal  officers. 

Special  Legislation.  By  the  year  1850  the  flood  of  special  en- 
actments from  the  legislatures  of  practically  all  of  the  states  had 
become  a  source  of  such  abuses  that  restrictive  measures  were, 

12  Mayor  v.  Ordrenan,  12  Johnson   (N.  Y.),  p.  122. 


100  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

in  some  quarters,  being  taken  to  stem  the  stream,  though  in  many 
states  it  continued  at  full  tide.  In  1870,  in  New  York,  of  808 
acts  passed  by  the  legislature,  212  containing  three-fourths  of 
the  bulk  of  the  statutes  of  the  year  related  to  cities  and  villages. 
In  1890,  in  the  same  state,  a  legislative  committee  found  that 
within  the  six  years,  1884-1889,  the  legislature  of  the  state  passed 
1284  acts  relative  to  thirty  cities  of  the  state,  of  which  number 
390  affected  New  York  City.13  In  1890  the  legislature  of  Mary- 
land enacted  67  laws  especially  affecting  Baltimore.  In  1901, 
the  Virginia  legislature  enacted  694  acts  of  which  607  were 
special. 

Such  special  acts  are  virtually,  if  not  formally,  amendments  to 
the  charters  of  the  cities  concerned.  The  result  was  that  soon 
even  the  law  officers  of  the  cities  themselves  were  uncertain  as  to 
the  powers  and  duties  of  any  particular  municipality.  The 
facility  with  which  special  legislation  could  be  obtained  was 
taken  advantage  of  corruptly  for  personal  gain  or  partisan  ad- 
vantage. By  this  means  one  finds  expensive  public  works  forced 
upon  a  city  against  its  will;  revenues  of  a  city  diverted  to  uses 
outside  its  boundaries ;  offices  created  to  furnish  places  for  politi- 
cal henchmen ;  police  who  have  been  discharged  by  their  superiors 
reinstated  by  law,  and  claims  against  a  city  which  had  been  disal- 
lowed by  the  courts  ordered  paid  by  legislative  enactment.  Such 
a  condition  of  affairs  not  only  leads  to  unwise  legislation,  but 
destroys  civic  interest  among  the  citizens,  places  undue  emphasis 
upon  politics,  leads  to  corruption  and  deprives  the  city  of  self- 
government  with  respect  to  local  affairs. 

General  Laws  and  Classification.  It  has  already  been  pointed 
out  that  excessive  regulation  by  the  legislature  of  city  affairs 
which  amounted  virtually  to  a  denial  of  any  proper  sphere  for 
the  city  as  an  organ  of  local  government  led  to  a  resort  to  the 
means  already  developed  for  protecting  private  rights  from 
legislative  invasion,  viz.,  that  of  constitutional  prohibition. 
As  early  as  1851  provisions  which  later  became  common,  were 
inserted  in  state  constitutions  prohibiting  or  limiting  special 
legislation  for  cities.  In  some  cases  such  mandates  were  accom- 

isGoodnow,  "Municipal  Home  Rule,"  p.  23. 


POSITION  OF  THE  CITY  IN  .TH3  STATUE        101 

panied  by  the  direction  that  general  laws  should  be  passed  for  the 
organization  and  government  of  municipalities.  In  few  of  these 
states  were  these  constitutional  stipulations  attended  by  great 
success  in  preventing  legislation  really  special  in  character.  It 
was  at  once  obvious  that  a  form  of  organization  which  was 
adapted  to  the  wants  of  a  city  of  ten  thousand  inhabitants  would 
be  quite  inadequate  to  the  needs  of  one  of  a  hundred  thousand, 
and  that  duties  lightly  borne  by  the  latter  might  become  a 
grievous  burden  upon  the  former.  Consequently  the  courts  of 
most  of  the  states  recognized  that  notwithstanding  the  constitu- 
tional mandate  with  respect  to  general  laws,  it  was  necessary 
for  the  legislature  to  classify  cities  and  then  to  enact  general 
laws  applicable  to  the  cities  of  a  class.  In  many  instances  the 
legislature  took  advantage  of  this  attitude  of  the  courts  to 
classify  cities  so  minutely  that  its  acts,  while  general  in  form, 
were  just  as  special  in  their  application  as  before.  Although 
the  supreme  court  of  Ohio  was  driven  by  the  excesses  of  the 
legislature  to  reverse  its  former  decisions  and  declare  classifica- 
tion unconstitutional,  in  most  states  still  legislation  concerning 
cities,  though  general  in  form,  is  really  special  in  character.15 

Another  reason  why  constitutional  provisions  requiring  gen- 
eral municipal  corporations  acts  have  not  been  as  satisfactory  as 
was  expected  and  why,  on  that  account,  the  legislatures,  even 
after  the  constitutional  prohibition  of  special  acts  affecting 
cities,  still  continued  to  pass  what  were  in  reality  special  acts,  is 
to  be  found  in  the  detailed  organization  and  powers  conferred 
upon  cities  by  the  legislatures  in  acts  purporting  to  be  general  in 
character.  The  legislature  had  fallen  into  the  habit  of  regu- 
lating the  organization  and  powers  of  cities  in  detail  prior  to 
the  adoption  of  the  constitutional  provisions  alluded  to,  and  the 
mere  adoption  of  such  provisions  did  not  have  the  immediate 
effect  of  causing  any  change  in  legislative  habits.  The  need  of 
special  action  in  the  case  of  particular  cities  was  as  great  after 
the  adoption  of  these  constitutional  provisions  as  before,  and  the 
legislature  was  compelled  to  take  such  action,  which,  as  has  been 

is  Goodnow,  "Municipal  Problems,"  p.  40;  Goodnow,  "Municipal  Home 
Rule,"  Chap.  V. 


102  WtfNICiPAli  GOVERNMENT 

said,  was  upheld  by  the  courts.  In  one  state,  however,  the  legis- 
lature adopted  another  and,  as  it  has  proved,  a  wiser  policy, 
though  not  as  yet  widely  followed.  In  Illinois  the  first  general 
municipal  corporations  act,  that  of  1872,  did  not  attempt  to 
regulate  in  detail  the  municipal  organization,  but  on  the  con- 
trary confined  itself  to  very  g-eneral  provisions  as  regards  both 
the  organization  and  the  powers  of  cities.  As  a  result  we  find 
that  the  constitutional  prohibition  of  special  legislation  had  a 
different  effect  in  that  state  from  that  which  it  at  first  had  in 
the  state  of  Ohio,  and  special  legislation  in  that  state  with  regard 
to  cities  practically  ceased. 

Regulated  Special  Legislation.  The  lack  of  success  which  has 
commonly  attended  the  adoption  of  constitutional  provisions  at- 
tempting absolutely  to  prohibit  special  legislation  as  to  cities, 
and  the  recognition  of  the  desirability  of  such  legislation  in  cer- 
tain cases  led  the  state  of  New  York  to  attempt  to  solve  the 
problem  in  another  way  when  it  came  to  adopt  its  constitution 
of  1894.  The  constitution  then  adopted  does  not  absolutely 
r  prohibit  special  legislation,  but  divides  the  cities  of  the  state  into 
three  classes  according  to  their  population,  and  requires  that  a 
special  act,  which  is  defined  in  the  constitution  as  an  act  affecting 
less  than  all  of  the  cities  of  one  class,  shall,  before  it  becomes  a 
law,  be  submitted  to  the  authorities  of  the  city  or  cities  con- 
cerned. The  municipal  authorities  have  the  right  to  disapprove 
it  after  holding  a  public  hearing,  notice  of  which  is  to  be  given 
in  the  newspapers.  If  the  local  authorities  disapprove  the  act, 
it  is  -again  to  be  submitted  to  the  legislature  of  the  state  which 
has  the  right  to  pass  it  by  an  ordinary  majority  over  the  veto  of 
the  local  authorities.  The  act  is  then  to  be  submitted  to  the 
governor  of  the  state  in  the  same  way  as  other  acts.  It  is  diffi- 
cult to  arrive  at  a  determination  as  to  the  effect  of  this  constitu- 
tional provision.  It  would  seem,  however,  that  the  formalities 
and  the  publicity  required  for  the  passage  of  special  legislation 
with  regard  to  cities  have  had  the  effect  of  preventing  the  enact- 
ment of  the  most  objectionable  classes  of  special  bills.  This  is 
particularly  true  of  the  many  bills  affecting  special  cities  which 
come  up  before  the  legislature  in  the  last  days  of  the  session.  As 
the  local  authorities  have  the  right  to  withhold  their  approval 


POSITION  OF  THE  CITY  IN  THE  STATE 

fifteen  days,  it  would  be  possible  for  them,  by  delaying  their 
action  somewhat,  in  case  they  wish  to  disapprove  a  bill,  to  return 
it  so  late  as  to  make  it  impossible  for  the  legislature  to  repass 
the  bill  over  the  local  veto.  It  is,  however,  true  that  this  method 
of  making  special  legislation  more  difficult  does  not  prevent 
the  passage  of  special  acts  which  have  become  party  measures. 
Thus,  the  present  charter  of  New  York  was  adopted  by  the  legis- 
lature after  it  had  been  vetoed  by  the  local  authorities  of  at  least 
one,  and  that  the  most  important,  of  the  consolidated  cities. 

The  Virginia  constitution  of  1902  seeks  to  secure  the  benefits 
of  special  legislation  while  avoiding  its  worst  evils  by  prescribing 
that  before  any  special,  private  or  local  bill  can  be  sent  to  com- 
mittee, it  must  have  been  referred  to  a  joint  committee  on  such 
bills  and  a  written  statement  from  them  secured  whether  the 
object  of  the  bill  might  be  accomplished  under  general  law  or  by 
court  proceedings. 

Municipal  Home  Kule.  City  populations  in  widely  scattered 
localities  finally  became  convinced  that  the  many  local  problems 
pressing  for  solution  could  be  successfully  met  only  by  granting 
to  each  city  wide  liberty  of  action  in  purely  local  matters.  Con- 
viction was  even  more  sure  that  legislatures  by  their  policy  of  con- 
stant legislation,  special  in  fact  if  not  in  name,  were  violating 
an  inherent  right  of  self-government.  Such  sentiments  crys- 
tallized at  last  into  a  demand  for  "municipal  home  rule."  No 
subject  related  to  municipal  government,  save  perhaps,  the  com- 
mission and  the  city-manager  forms  of  government,  has  attracted 
more  wide-spread  attention  than  this  of  ' '  municipjljiome  rule. ' ' 
Though  finding  with  different  people  widely  different  meanings, 
to  a  people  deeply  imbued  with  a  love  of  local  self-government, 
this  phrase  has  had  an  attractive  sound  and  has  been  one  to 
conjure  with.  The  ideas,  more  or  less  vague,  finding  expression 
in  this  term  usually  resolve  themselves  into  a  demand  for  one  or 
more  of  the  following: — 

1.  The  right  to  have  laws  enforced  locally  by  officers  locally 
elected. 

\2.  The  right  to  determine  the  form  of  municipal  organization. 
3.  The  right  to  determine  the  scope  of  municipal  activity. 
State  Appointment  of  City  Officers.     The  right  of  localities  to 


104  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

be  governed  by  officers  of  their  own  choosing  has  been  a  cherished 
privilege  of  English-speaking  peoples,  against  any  invasion  of 
which  protest  has  been  quick  and  loud.  About  the  middle  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  the  conspicuous  failure  of  the  methods  of 
selection  of  administrative  officers  by  council  appointment  and 
by  popular  election  furnished  the  occasion,  often  at  the  instiga- 
tion of  the  exasperated  citizens  themselves,  for  the  appointment 
of  such  officers  by  the  state.  In  a  number  of  instances  provision 
was  made  by  law  for  the  state  appointment  of  police  commis- 
sioners, fire  commissioners  and  other  officers  who  were  to  have 
jurisdiction  over  either  some  particular  city,  or  a  district  which 
embraced  the  territory  of  several  adjoining  municipal  corpora- 
tions. So  violent  an  invasion  of  established  privilege  brought 
protest,  and  certain  vicious  examples  like  that  presented  in  the 
notorious  "ripper  laws"  of  Pennsylvania  have  given  point  to 
these  protests. 

This  situation  soon  led  to  the  insertion  in  a  number  of  con- 
/  stitutions  of  provisions  which  secured  to  the  cities  the  right  of 
V  locally  selecting  city  officers,  and  forbade  the  creation  of  special 
Commissions  to  control  certain  lines  of  municipal  activity. 
These  provisions,  however,  were  worded  in  such  a  manner  as 
merely  to  forbid  the  legislatures  to  provide  for  the  central  ap- 
pointment of  "city  officers."  When  the  courts  came  to  deter- 
mine what  were  "city  officers"  the  traditional  legal  attitude  to- 
ward municipal  corporations  led  them  to  take  a  rather  narrow 
view  of  the  matter,  and  it  was  held  in  a  number  of  cases  that 
almost  all  of  the  officers  who  were  engaged  in  work  in  a  city  and 
who  had  been  popularly  regarded  as  city  officers  were  state 
rather  than  city  officers  and  were  not  affected  by  these  constitu- 
tional provisions.  Indeed  it  may  be  said,  generally,  in  the  light 
of  these  decisions,  that  only  those  officers  in  the  city  government 
are  city  officers  in  the  sense  of  the  state  constitution,  who  have 
to  do  with  the  streets  and  public  works  generally  of  the  city. 
The  courts  have  no  doubt  been  led  to  these  decisions  partly  be- 
cause police,  health  and  other  locally  elected  officers  are  charged 
with  the  enforcement  of  state  laws  and  by  their  inaction  may 
virtually  nullify  laws  in  particular  communities.  It  has  been 
suggested  that  while  preserving  the  right  of  local  election  a  solu- 


POSITION  OF  THE  CITY  IN  THE  STATE        105 

tion  of  this  phase  of  the  problem  might  be  found  in  a  broad 
power  of  removal  of  such  officers  lodged  in  the  state  administra- 
tion. 

Furthermore,  the  courts  have  recognized  in  several  cases  that 
all  of  the  provisions  which  have  been  inserted  in  the  constitution 
with  the  idea  of  protecting  municipalities  against  the  inter- 
ference of  the  legislature  are  to  be  construed  strictly  and  as 
affecting  only  those  corporations  which  may  be  mentioned  in 
the  provisions.  Thus,  the  courts  have  held  that,  even  under  con- 
stitutional provisions  prohibiting  special  legislation  with  regard 
to  cities  or  providing  for  the  local  selection  of  corporate  officers, 
the  legislature  has  the  right  to  organize  new  corporations  with  a 
different  territorial  basis  and  with  special  administrative  func-  \ 
tions,  such  as  police  districts  and  drainage  districts,  and  that,  in  ) 
V  case  it  does  so,  the  provisions  of  the  constitution,  to  which 
\  allusion  has  been  made,  do  not  have  the  effect  of  limiting  the 
power  of  the  legislature  with  regard  to  such  newly  created 
corporations. 

City-Made  Charters.     The  right  of  cities  to  determine  the  form 
-of  their  organization  has  found  expression  in  the  grant  to  them 
^of  power  to  frame  and  adopt  their  own  charters.     This,  the  latest, 
has  so  far  proved  the  most  successful  device  for  relieving  munici- 
palities from  excessive  legislative  interference.     It  has  been 
proven  by  experience  that  in  spite  of  the  mandate  for  general 
laws,  so  long  as  the  policy  of  legislating  in  detail  concerning  cities 
is  persisted  in,  and  the  doctrine  of  enumerated  powers  is  ad- 
hered to,  there  will  be  constant  resort  to  the  legislature.     The 
•  recognition,  at  the  same  time,  of  the  advantages  of  proper  special 
legislation  has  proved  a  strong  argument  for  the  granting  to 
cities  of  this  new  right. 

In  certain  states,  as  for  example  in  Ohio,  cities  in  making 
their  charters  are  restricted  to  a  choice  between  certain  specified 
alternative  forms  of  organization.  The  California  constitution 
provides  that  the  charter  must  be  submitted  to  the  legislature  for 
approval  or  rejection  as  a  whole,  while  in  Oklahoma  and  Arizona 
the  governor  may  veto  the  proposed  charter.  In  practice  these 
have  not  proved  to  be  real  restrictions  on  the  cities. 

Municipal  Functions.    The  third  right  contemplated  in  the  ex- 


106  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

pression  "municipal  home  rule,"  that  of  determining  the_scope 
of  municipal  activities,  is  of  the  most  practical  importance.  The 
right  is  ordinarily  included  in  the  right  to  make  a  charter, 
though  not  necessarily  so.  It  might  exist  even  though  the  form 
of  municipal  organization  were  carefully  prescribed  by  the  state, 
though  this  is  contrary  to  established  practice  in  the  United 
States.  The  right  is  sometimes  stated  as  that  "to  make  and 
enforce  all  laws  and  regulations  in  respect  to  municipal  affairs. ' ' 
Save  for  the  stipulation  that  this  right  shall  be  exercised  subject 
to  the  constitution  and  general  laws  of  the  state,  such  a  grant  of 
power  revises  the  fundamental  doctrine  of  enumerated  powers 
and  makes  of  the  city,  within  the  sphere  of  municipal  affairs,  a 
body  of  general  powers.  That  sphere  of  municipal  affairs  has 
already  been  shown  to  include  substantially  that  which  is  com- 
monly known  as  local  improvements. 

Future  Relation  of  the  City  to  the  State.  Thus  far  it  has  been 
seen  that  during  the  past  century  cities  have  come  to  have  a  defi- 
nite field  in  the  government  system  in  the  management  of  local 
affairs.  Successive  decisions  of  the  courts  have  determined  only 
in  part  the  boundaries  of  this  field  of  municipal  affairs.  Were 
society  in  a  static  instead  of  in  an  evolutionary  condition  this 
work  of  delimination  might  in  time  be  made  complete. 

The  fact  is,  however,  that  development  is  constantly  going  on. 
New  conditions  create  new  local  needs,  and  those  new  needs  de- 

.  mand  new  activities  on  the  part  of  the  municipality  for  their 

I  satisfaction.     Hence   the   field   of   municipal   affairs    tends   to 

I  broaden. 

V  On  the  other  hand,  in  those  states  where  cities  have  become  so 
large  and  numerous  as  to  comprise  a  large,  if  not  a  major  part  of 
the  population,  the  discharge  of  the  function  of  satisfying  a  need 
which  has  always  been  considered  purely  local  ceases  to  have  a 
merely  local  interest.  The  state  cannot  look  with  unconcern 
upon  the  discharge  of  functions  which  affect  the  major  or  a  large 
part  of  the  population.  It  might  thus  happen  again,  as  was 
once  the  case,  that  questions  which  have  been  regarded  as  local 
may  become  of  general  interest.  When  commerce  and  industry 
were  young  they  were  carried  on  by  such  a  small  part  of  the 
population  of  the  state  that  the  management  of  commercial  and 


POSITION  OF  THE  CITY  IN  THE  STATE        107 

industrial  relations  might  well  be  regarded  as  functions  affect- 
ing exclusively  the  individual  commercial  and  industrial  com- 
munities, i.e.,  the  municipalities,  but  when  in  the  eighteenth  and 
nineteenth  centuries  commerce  and  industry  became  state-wide, 
the  care  of  their  relations  became  a  matter  of  state  concern. 

In  the  same  way  the  care  of  those  interests  which  in  the  nine- 
teenth century  were  regarded  as  municipal  matters  may,  with  the 
increase  of  urban  population  and  the  importance  of  the  munici- 
palities, become  matters  of  state  concern.  A  marked  instance 
of  this  development  may  be  seen  in  the  conditions  existing  in 
eastern  Massachusetts,  where  have  grown  up  in  close  proximity 
a  number  of  urban  communities.  The  competition  among  these 
communities  for  the  available  sources  of  water-supply  became  so 
keen  that  the  state  had  to  step  in  and  assume  the  management 
of  what  had  hitherto  been  regarded  as  a  municipal  matter.  In 
like  manner  the  street  railways  were  once  of  purely  local  interest, 
but  with  the  application  of  electricity  to  their  operation  these 
lines  have  become  parts  of  suburban  and  even  of  interurban  sys- 
tems, and  consequently  of  state  interest  and  properly  subject  to 
state  regulation. 

Whenever  an  activity  hitherto  merely  of  local  concern  takes 
on  a  wider  interest  the  state  must  step  in,  just  as  it  did  long  ago 
with  respect  to  military  and  foreign  affairs,  and,  in  the  interests 
of  the  state  as  a  whole,  claim  as  its  own  the  function  which 
down  to  the  moment  had  been  merely  local.  It  may  discharge 
this  function  itself,  or  it  may  make  use  of  the  city  as  its  agent. 

The  whole  matter  of  municipal  functions,  therefore,  is  in  a 
state  of  flux.  What  may  be  a  municipal  function  at  one  time 
in  a  given  city  may  not  be  at  another.  What  is  a  municipal 
function  in  one  city  may  not  be  such  in  another.  In  both  cases 
the  reasons  why  it  may  or  may  not  be  recognized  as  municipal 
are  that  it  is  or  is  not  merely  local  in  interest.  Even  the  geo- 
graphical situation  of  the  city  sometimes  may  have  an  influence 
in  determining  the  question.  Thus,  sewerage,  in  a  city  like 
New  York,  situated  on  tide  water,  has  less  general  interest  than 
in  Chicago,  which  is  compelled  to  discharge  its  sewage  into 
one  of  the  rivers  of  the  state.  At  the  same  time,  it  will  prob- 
ably be  a  long  time  before  everything  that  the  city  does  will 


108  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

become  general  in  interest.  For  many  years  to  come  there  will 
probably  be  many  things  which  cities  may  and  will  do  which 
interest  them  so  nearly  exclusively  that  they  may  be  regarded 
in  attending  to  them  as  organs  for  the  satisfaction  of  local 
needs.  But  we  shall  probably  see  in  the  future  as  we  have  seen 
in  the  past,  a  continual  encroachment  of  the  state  upon  what 
has  been  recognized  as  the  domain  of  the  city,  due  to  the  fact 
that  what  the  city  is  doing  has  become  of  interest  to  the  state. 

Limitation  Upon  Municipal  Home  Rule.  The  instability  of  the 
line  of  demarcation  between  municipal  and  state  affairs,  and 
the  probability  of  the  transfer  of  various  functions  from  one 
category  to  the  other  in  the  no-distant  future  must  inevitably 
raise  many  difficulties  in  the  practical  application  of  the  doctrine 
of  municipal  home  rule,  and  will  suggest  some  limitations  upon 
the  broad  acceptance  so  commonly  accorded  that  doctrine. 

It  must  be  admitted  that  so  far  as  is  consistent  with  good 
administration,  local  government  should  be  left  to  locally  selected 
officers;  that  cities  should  be  given  wide  liberty  in  determining 
the  details  of  their  governmental  organization,  and  that  they 
should  be  left  free  to  work  out  their  own  destinies  in  a  wide 
range  of  local  matters,  chiefly  in  the  domain  of  local  improve- 
ments ;  yet  it  can  scarcely  be  doubted  that  the  subordinate  posi- 
tion assigned  to  the  modern  city  is,  under  modern  social  condi- 
tions, the  right  one.  The  economic  basis  of  society  has  so  broad- 
ened as  compared  with  former  times  that  the  city  is  not  the 
proper  governmental  authority  to  exercise  those  powers  whose 
exercise  may  materially  affect  the  interests  of  the  broader  eco- 
nomic unit  which  has  come  into  existence. 

Furthermore,  the  great  heterogeneity  which  is  characteristic 
of  the  population  of  the  modern  city  as  compared  with  that  of 
the  ancient  city, — a  heterogeneity  which  is  in*  large  measure 
due  to  the  wider  area  of  commerce  and  the  peculiar  character- 
istics of  modern  urban  populations  which  are  industrial  in 
character, — makes  it  more  difficult  for  modern  than  for  former 
urban  populations  to  discharge  the  governmental  functions 
which  in  former  times  were  entrusted  to,  them.  Indeed,  the 
character  of  modern  urban  populations  is  such  that  it  would 
appear  to  be  doubtful  whether,  in  cases  where  a  wide  suffrage 


POSITION  OF  THE  CITY  IN  THE  STATE        109 

is  the  rule,  they  are  capable  of  discharging  efficiently  many 
of  the  functions  the  discharge  of  which  modern  urban  life 
imperatively  demands.  For,  whether  we  regard  the  matter 
either  from  an  ajpriori  or  a  historical  point  of  view,  urban  life 
does  not  favor  the  development  of  democratic  government. 
Urban  populations  in  the  past  have  too  easily  and  generally 
fallen  under  the  control  of  oligarchies  and  despots  or  bosses, 
to  permit  us  to  entertain  the  hope  that  under  modern  conditions 
their  fate,  if  left  to  themselves,  will  be  much  different  from 
what  it  has  been  in  the  past.  The  conditions  of  modern  cities 
certainly  favor  just  as  much  as  did  those  of  former  cities  the 
rule  of  the  oligarchy  or  the  despot  or  the  boss;  nor  may  it  be 
safely  contended  that  the  recent  successes  attendant  upon  the 
introduction  of  new  forms  of  governmental  organization,  im- 
proved methods  of  administration,  and  the  revival  of  civic  inter- 
est in  many  cities,  will  in  the  long  run  impair  the  soundness 
of  this  conclusion. 

Municipal  home  rule,  then,  save  within  the  somewhat  re- 
stricted limits  set  forth  in  the  preceding  sections,  has  no  just 
foundation  either  in  history  or  in  theory  until  the  conditions 
of  city  populations  are  very  different  from  what  they  are  at 
present.  Municipal  home  rule  without  limitation  has  no  place  in 
correct  thinking.  On  account  of  the  reverence  in  which  it  is 
heldTTt  is  often  used  as  a  slogan  by  those  who  have  not  the 
true  interests  of  urban  populations  at  heart,  or  by  those  who, 
while  possessing  good  intentions,  are  not  sufficiently  acquainted 
with  the  conditions  to  which  they  would  apply  it,  and  do  not 
consider  the  problem  in  the  light  of  the  history  of  western  munic- 
ipal development. 

American  Political  Parties.  The  second  factor  in  determining 
the  political  position  of  the  American  city  is  the  extra-legal 
political  situation  which  has  grown  up  through  the  working  of 
the  party  system.  The  general  system  of  government  adopted 
both  in  the  states  and  in  the  United  States  national  government 
is  based  on  the  theory  of  checks  and  balances.  By  this  theory 
the  powers  of  government  are  apportioned  between  three  depart- 
ments which  are  made  as  separate  from  and  independent  of 
each  other  as  the  mind  of  man  can  well  devise,  but  unless  these 


110  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

departments  can  be  co-ordinated  it  is  difficult  for  the  govern- 
ment to  accomplish  much.  This  governmental  incapacity,  if 
we  may  so  call  it,  was  not  regarded  by  those  responsible  for 
the  adoption  of  this  system  of  government  as  a  defect,  for  in 
the  days  in  which  the  system  was  framed,  much  government 
was  deprecated.  The  political  philosophy  of  the  fathers  placed 
great  reliance  upon  individualism. 

Almost  from  the  time  this  system  was  established,  however, 
problems  of  the  most  momentous  importance  had  to  be  solved. 
It  had  to  be  determined,  first,  whether  the  United  States  was 
to  become  a  democratic  or  remain  an  aristocratic  republic; 
second,  whether  it  was  to  be  a  nation  or  a  confederation;  and, 
third,  whether  the  labor  system  known  as  slavery,  which  had 
been  inherited  from  the  days  of  colonial  dependence,  was  to  be 
extended  or  abolished. 

There  was  thus  great  need  of  a  strong  government.  The 
system  as  originally  established  was  not  strong  because  so  many 
authorities  had  to  pull  together  in  order  to  accomplish  anything. 
But  as  the  system  of  government  adopted  was  incorporated  in 
documents  which  were  difficult  if  not  impossible  of  amendment, 
the  formal  system  of  government  could  not  well  be  changed. 
Since  that  system  provided  in  no  way  for  that  co-ordination 
of  governmental  departments  without  which  harmonious  and 
effective  action  could  not  be  ensured,  means  to  secure  the  desired 
end  had  to  be  sought  for  outside  of  the  system.  This  means 
was  found  in  the  development  of  well  organized  and  disciplined 
political  parties,  which  strove  by  every  means  within  their  power 
to  get  control  of  all  governmental  departments  in  the  belief 
that  in  this  way  and  in  this  way  only  they  could  force  these 
departments  to  act  in  harmony,  and  thus  secure  a  solution  of  the 
problems  before  the  country. 

In  order  to  build  up  the  parties,  administrative  efficiency  in 
both  the  national  and  the  state  governments  was  sacrificed 
through  the  introduction  of  the  partisan  political  maxim  that 
"to  the  victors  belong  the  spoils."  Public  office  was  given 
as  a  reward  for  partisan  political  service,  and  little  attempt 
was  made  to  secure  official  incumbents  because  of  their  fitness 
for  the  discharge  of  the  administrative  duties  attached  to  the 


POSITION  OF  THE  CITY  IN  THE  STATE        111 

offices  which  they  secured.  The  questions  asked  were:  does  the 
applicant  hold  the  proper  opinions  on  the  extension  of  the  suf- 
frage, on  state  rights  and  slavery;  and  will  he,  if  given  the 
office,  further  the  policies  of  the  party  which  has  selected  him? 
/Party  Domination  in  Cities.  During  our  early  history  the 
city  was  recognized  by  law,  under  the  theories  held  during  the 
eighteenth  century  as  to  the  position  of  cities,  as  a  mere  agent  of 
the  state  government.  The  distinctly  local  problems  of  city 
government  were  not  so  important  in  our  early  history  as  they 
are  now.  Cities  were  comparatively  few  and  unimportant. 
Such  interests  as  cities  had  were  naturally,  therefore,  sacrificed 
in  the  endeavor  to  solve  the  more  serious  problems  which  the 
American  people  had  to  face.  Hence,  it  is  not  to  be  regarded 
as  remarkable  that  the  state  legislature,  which  completely  con- 
trolled the  fate  of  cities,  and  was  at  the  same  time  the  hotbed 
of  partisan  political  strife,  should  have  made  use  of  its  un- 
questionable legal  power  over  cities  in  the  interests  of  the 
dominant  political  parties. 

But  this  is  not  the  whole  story.  Parties,  to  be  strong,  must 
have  an  organization  which  permeates  the  entire  political  sys- 
tem. That  organization  must  certainly  extend  through  the 
urban  population  where  the  suffrage  is  general.  Nowhere  in  the 
state  are  there  so  many  state  voters  in  similar  areas  as  in  the 
urban  communities.  Further,  a  political  party  formed  for  the 
purpose  of  putting  into  effect  a  state  policy,  is  irresistibly 
tempted  to  busy  itself  with  distinctly  city  politics,  since  the 
cities,  as  has  been  seen,  are,  apart  from  the  control  exercised 
by  the  legislature  and  the  courts  in  their  interpretation  and 
application  of  the  law,  the  uncontrolled  agents  of  the  state  in 
the  discharge  of  a  long  series  of  functions.  The  city  police 
enforce  the  state  laws.  The  city  boards  of  education  manage 
the  state  educational  institutions  of  the  cities.  The  city  finan- 
cial authorities  often  collect  the  state  taxes,  while  the  general 
municipal  authorities  commonly  have  charge  of  the  elections 
in  the  cities  for  state  officers.  State  political  parties  have  thus 
in  addition  to  their  evident  duty  of  influencing  city  populations 
in  their  capacity  as  state  electorate,  a  perfectly  proper  and 
justifiable  motive  for  endeavoring  to  obtain  control  of  the  ma- 


112  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

chinery  of  the  city  government.     If,  for  example,  a  state  policy 

with  regard  to  the  sale  of  liqtlor  in  the  cities  is  successful,  its 

,   success  is  in  large  measure  due  to  the  attitude  of  a  city  and 

I  not  a  state  police.     If  state  elections  in  cities  are  honest  it  is 

|  because  of  the  honesty  of  municipal  and  not  state  authorities. 

State  parties  are  liable  to  be  tempted  to  interfere  in  city 
politics  and  to  strive  for  the  control  of  city  government  because 
of  other  motives,  which,  while  perhaps  less  proper,  are  no  less 
strong  than  the  ones  just  enumerated.  The  administration  of 
all  cities  and  particularly  large  cities  necessitates  the  existence 
of  numerous  offices  and  the  making  of  many  profitable  con- 
tracts. If  the  state  political  party  can  obtain  control  of  the 
city  government  it  can  arrange  that  city  offices  are  given  to  its 
adherents,  and  can  make  it  more  probable  that  city  contracts 
are  awarded  in  such  a  way  as  to  do  the  party  the  greatest  good. 
It  may  be  said  without  danger  of  contradiction  that  little 
consideration  was  given  by  the  people  of  this  country  to  munic- 
ipal affairs  until  after  the  close  of  the  Civil  War.  Until  then 
the  feeling  of  the  people  generally  without  much  dissent  favored 
the  control  of  city  elections  by  national  and  state  political 
parties.  On  the  one  hand,  the  absence  of  really  serious  munic- 
ipal problems  and,  on  the  other,  the  necessity  of  solving  the 
great  problems  of  democratic  government,  national  unity,  and 
negro  slavery,  caused  the  mind  of  the  average  citizen  to  be  so 
occupied  with  national  questions  as  to  leave  little  time  or  inclina- 
tion for  the  consideration  of  what  he  regarded  as  the  parochial 
problems  of  mere  city  government.  Soon  after  the  war,  how- 
ever, when  our  great  national  political  problems  had  been  solved, 
there  began  an  agitation  for  better  administrative  conditions 
generally,  which  resulted  in  the  adoption  of  the  national  civil 
service  law  of  1883,  and  for  a  curtailment  of  the  power  of  the 
legislatures  over  cities  through  the  adoption  of  a  series  of  con- 
stitutional provisions  attempting,  but  generally  without  great 
success,  to  protect  cities  against  legislative  action.  Somewhat 
later,  the  attempt  was  made  by  a  variety  of  legal  measures  to 
protect  cities  from  undue  control  of  political  parties.  "Primary 
and  other  election  laws  were  adopted,  which  subjected  political 
parties  to  government  control  and  distinguished  more  clearly 


POSITION  OF  THE  CITY  IN  THE  STATE        113 

between  municipal  and  state  politics.  This  legislation  was  pre- 
ceded if  not  caused  by  the  development  of  the  popular  feeling 
that  municipal  should  be  separated  from  state  and  national 
politics — a  feeling  which  led  to  the  establishment  of  such  organi- 
zations as  the  National  Municipal  League  and  innumerable  local 
non-partisan  organizations  in  cities. 

Under  the  political  conditions  which  have  prevailed  even  to 
the  present  time  in  the  United  States,  it  has  not  been  possible 
to  make  a  clear-cut  distinction  between  the  local  and  state  po- 
litical party  organizations ;  at  the  same  time  it  has  become  much 
easier  than  formerly  to  separate  municipal  from  state  and  na-  j 
tional  issues,  and  to  consider  municipal  issues  on  their  own  j 
merits  apart  from  the  influence  they  may  have  on  state  and 
national  issues. 

The  Position  of  English  Cities.  The  method  of  defining  the 
relations  of  the  city  to  the  state  employed  in  the  United  States 
has  been  spoken  of  as  the  English  method,  and  is  substantially 
that  originally  employed  in  England.  The  application  of  this 
method,  however,  has  not  had  the  same  effect  upon  the  actual 
position  of  the  city  in  England  that  it  had  in  the  United  States. 

In  the  first  place,  as  has  been  pointed  out,16  since  the  passage 
of  the  Municipal  Corporations  Act  of  1835,  municipal  charters 
in  England  have  not  been  as  special  as  in  the  United  States. 
This  act  provided  for  all  cities  a  uniform  system  of  government 
of  a  very  general  character,  but  left  it  to  the  city  councils  to 
determine,  with  few  exceptions,  just  what  offices  should  be 
created  and  how  they  should  be  filled.  Supplementary  to  this 
act,  Parliament  passed  from  time  to  time  a  series  of  standard- 
ized "Clauses  Acts"  in  which  were  included  provisions  relating 
to  particular  matters  which  were  frequently  the  subject  of 
special  legislation.  Thereafter  much  of  the  special  legislation 
consisted  in  the  application  of  these  acts  to  particular  cities. 
Parliament,  too,  by  a  number  of  standing  orders  adopted  a 
procedure  for  special  legislation  which  made  such  legislation 
both  difficult  and  expensive,  and  offered  guaranties  both  to  the 
corporation  and  to  private  individuals  against  hasty  and  im- 
proper legislative  action.  Parliament,  also,  through  the  estab- 

«  Supra,  p.  79. 


114  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

lishment  of  such  boards  as  the  Local  Government  Board  at 
London,  created  authorities  of  an  administrative  character  to 
exercise  part  at  least  of  the  control  which  it  might  have  exercised 
itself,  and  has  quite  commonly  asked  the  advice  of  such  boards 
where  it  has  still  ventured  to  exercise  its  control.  In  all  these 
ways  special  legislation  has,  without  any  attempt  at  a  constitu- 
tional limitation  of  the  powers  of  Parliament,  been  greatly  de- 
creased in  amount  and  at  the  same  time  improved  in  character. 

Furthermore,  the  extra-legal  conditions  have  been  quite  differ- 
ent in  England  from  what  they  have  been  in  the  United  States. 
The  establishment  of  cabinet  government  in  the  early  part  of 
the  nineteenth  century  has  co-ordinated  the  legislative  and  the 
executive  authorities,  and  has  therefore  made  unnecessary  the 
tremendous  expenditure  of  political  energy  and  the  sacrifice 
of  administrative  efficiency,  both  general  and  local,  which  seemed 
to  be  necessary  in  order  to  build  up  political  parties  in  the 
United  States.  Finally,  the  political  issues  before  the  English 
people  have  not  until  recently  been  of  the  supreme  importance 
which  characterized  the  early  political  issues  of  the  United 
States. 

English  Parties  and  City  Government.  Under  these  extra- 
legal  conditions  which  have  prevailed,  English  political  parties 
did  not  strive  in  the  same  way  as  in  the  United  States,  either 
through  their  influence  in  Parliament  or  at  municipal  elections, 
to  control  the  city  governments.  Municipal  issues  separate  from 
imperial  issues  could  be  formulated,  and  demand  and  receive 
attention.  Municipalities  had  the  opportunity  to  develop  com- 
paratively free  from  the  disturbing  influences  of  imperial  poli- 
tics. As  England  was,  even  at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  highly  advanced  from  a  commercial  and  industrial  point 
of  view,  it  had,  early  as  compared  with  the  United  States, 
numerous  and  important  cities  with  a  large  urban  population. 
Distinctly  municipal  needs  and  problems  were,  therefore,  at  an 
early  period  much  more  important  than  in  the  United  States. 

All  these  conditions,  legal,  political  and  economic,  naturally 
brought  about  a  different  attitude  on  the  part  of  the  people 
generally  toward  the  city,  whose  sphere  of  local  government 
gradually  expanded  during  the  course  of  the  nineteenth  century ; 


POSITION  OF  THE  CITY  IN  THE  STATE         115 

and  as  a  result,  secured  to  the  city  an  actual,  if  not  legal, 
freedom  to  solve  its  own  problems,  which  it  did  not  secure  in  the 
United  States.  It  was  only  after  the  presentation  of  the  im- 
portant political  issue  of  Home  Rule  for  Ireland — an  issue  which 
it  was  believed  involved  the  integrity  of  the  kingdom — that 
the  political  parties  showed  signs  of  desiring  to  get  control  of 
the  city  governments.  Traditions  of  non-partisan  municipal 
government  were,  however,  so  strong  that  little  harm  has  so  far 
resulted  from  this  attempt  to  change  the  policy  of  England 
towards  its  cities.  Furthermore,  the  facts  that  the  suffrage  was 
not  so  wide  as  in  the  United  States,  and  that  fewer  officers  were 
elected  in  the  cities  made  both  organization  of  parties  easier 
and  the  work  of  parties  less.  It  was  not  necessary,  therefore, 
for  parties  to  be  so  strong  as  in  the  United  States,  nor  for 
administrative  efficiency  to  be  sacrificed  in  the  interests  of  strong 
parties,  as  was  the  case  in  the  United  States. 

The  Continental  Method  of  Articulation.  The  second  method 
of  adjusting  the  relations  of  the  city  to  the  state  has  been  spoken 
of  as  the  continental  method.  Under  this  method  cities  are 
authorities  of_general  powers  and^as  .such  may  take  any  actiQ_n 
UgonJocaljtffairs  not  forbidden  or  otherwise  provided  for  by  law. 
Beyond  such  general  control  as  is  contained  in  the  fundamental 
municipal  corporations  acts,  state  regulation  of  municipalities 
is  secured  through  the  state  administrative  system.  >J 

The  Position  of  the  French  Cities.  The  French  law  of  munic- 
ipal corporations  of  1884  expresses  the  continental  theory  in 
the  statement  that  the  "municipal  council  shall  govern  by  its 
deliberations  the  affairs  of  the  commune."  An  examination 
of  the  other  provisions  of  the  law  shows  that  there  is  nowhere 
a  statement  as  to  what  "the  affairs  of  the  commune"  are.  All 
that  one  finds  as  to  the  competence  of  cities  is  a  series  of  pro- 
visions which  limit  the  power  of  the  city  by  giving  to  some 
authority  of  the  central  government  the  right  to  declare  void  a 
resolution  of  a  city  council  on  the  ground  that  it  is  in  excess  of 
the  council's  powers,  or  which  subject  certain  resolutions  of 
the  council  to  the  necessity  of  being  approved  by  some  higher 
authority.  In  other  words,  cities  may  do  anything  which  they 
have  not  been  forbidden  to  do  or  which  has  not  been  entrusted^ 


116  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

to  some  other  authority.  The  presumption  is  in  favor  of  the 
power  of  cities  to  act,  and  the  work  of  the  student  who  wishes 
to  ascertain  whether  a  city  can  do  a  given  thing  is  directed 
to  the  ascertainment  of  the  limitations  upon  their  general  powers 
to  act  rather  than  an  examination  of  the  enumerated  powers 
granted.  The  only  general  exception  to  this  statement  which 
should  be  made  is  as  to  undertakings  which  are  regarded  by 
the  French  courts  as  commercial  rather  than  governmental  in 
character.  In  such  instances  the  courts  have  in  a  number  of 
cases  refused  to  regard  these  undertakings  as  included  within 
"the  affairs  of  the  commune."  The  courts  have  thus  refused 
to  regard  a  local  railway  as  an  "affair  of  the  commune." 

Furthermore,  the  charters  of  all  cities  are  contained  in  a 
general  act  which  is  general,  both  because  it  applies  to  all  cities 
and  because  it  lays  down  general  principles  as  to  the  organi- 
zation and  powers  of  cities.  Cities  may,  within  the  limits  of 
the  act,  provide  their  own  organization  and  extend  their  sphere 
of  action  as  they  see  fit.  The  limitations  on  city  action  contained 
in  the  law  are,  it  is  true,  rather  numerous,  and  the  cities  are 
subject  to  a  strong  central  administrative  control  whose  extent 
and  operation  will  be  considered  later.  But  cities  under  this 
arrangement  are  considered  to  be  not  merely  agents  of  the  state 
government  but  as  well  organs  of  local  government  which  shall, 
under  the  control  of  the  central  government  of  the  state,  deter- 
mine what  their  sphere  of  action  as  such  organs  shall  be. 

The  same  need  for  strong  national  parties  as  was  felt  in  the 
United  States  has  not  been  felt  in  France,  partly,  it  is  believed, 
because  of  the  adoption  of  the  principles  of  cabinet  government, 
and  strong  national  parties  have  not  as  a  matter  of  fact  de- 
veloped. City  government  has  not,  as  in  the  United  States, 
been  sacrificed  in  the  interest  of  national' issues.  But  the  very 
weakness  of  the  national  parties  would  appear  in  recent  years 
to  have  had  a  bad  influence  on  the  administrative  efficiency  of 
both  the  general  and  the  local  government,  including  that  of 
the  cities.  Municipal  elections  are  frequently  decided  on  na- 
tional issues,  and  municipal  affairs  are  in  some  degree,  much 
more  than  in  England,  influenced  by  considerations  of  national 
politics. 


POSITION  OF  THE  CITY  IN  THE  STATE        117 

The  Position  of  the  Prussian  Cities.  The  principle  that  cities 
are  authorities  of  general  powers  lies  at  the  basis  of  the  Prussian 
law  of  municipal  corporations.  The  municipal  law  of  1808, 
says  Leidig, ' '  first  recognized  that  the  corporations  which  formed 
a  part  of  the  state  organization  had  their  own  personality  dis- 
tinct and  apart  from  that  of  the  state,  and  that  they  should 
pursue  their  own  ends  independently  within  the  sphere  of  com- 
petence delimited  by  the  action  of  the  state. ' ' 17  This  compe- 
tence is  not,  however,  enumerated  or  defined  in  the  law,  which 
recognizes  that  the  sphere  of  municipal  activity  embraces  the 
satisfaction  within  the  city  limits  of  all  the  social  needs  of  the 
city  inhabitants  in  so  far  as  the  law  has  not  entrusted  to  other 
authorities  the  discharge  of  functions  which  are  theoretically 
municipal  in  character.  In  such  a  case  the  theoretical  character 
of  the  function  will  not  cause  it  to  be  regarded  as  within  the 
sphere  of  municipal  competence. 

The  Prussian  Superior  Administrative  Court,  in  a  decision, 
interpreting  the  Prussian  law  as  to  the  sphere  of  activity  of 
cities,  has  said  that  law  "has  fixed  the  limits  to  the  activity 
of  cities  as  cities.  To  the  cities  is  entrusted  severally  the  care 
of  the  moral  and  economic  interests  of  their  citizens,  in  so 
far  as  special  laws  have  made  no  exceptional  provision  for  the 
care  of  such  interests.  In  default  of  such  laws  the  limits  of 
municipal  activity,  over  against  the  state  as  the  controlling  au- 
thority, are  to  be  found  only  in  the  city's  local  territorial  juris- 
diction, i.e.,  in  the  local  character  of  municipal  functions. 
Whatever  the  city  within  its  boundaries  and  by  means  of  its  own 
resources  can  do  to  further  its  interests  is  not  in  principle  at 
any  rate  outside  of  its  jurisdiction  and  may  be  regarded  as  a 
municipal  matter. " 18  In  another  decision,  the  same  court  has 
said:  "A  municipal  corporation  may  through  the  application 
of  its  resources  make  a  subject  of  its  activities,  everything  which 
will  further  its  corporate  welfare  or  the  material  interests  and 
intellectual  development  of  its  members.  It  may  of  its  own 
motion  inaugurate  institutions  and  enterprises  of  general  utility 
which  subserve  these  ends. — It  has  in  general  the  care  of  the 

17  Leidig,  "Preussisches  Stadtrecht,"  p.  498. 

is  "Entscheidungen  des  Oberverwaltungsgerichts,"  Vol.  XIII,  pp.  89,  106. 


118  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

moral  and  economic  interests  of  its  members,  and  may  employ 
its  resources  for  this  purpose,  but — and  this  is  the  limit  the 
passing  of  which  will  result  in  the  violation  of  the  law — upon  the 
supposition,  which  is  always  to  be  kept  in  mind,  that  it  and 
its  organs  limit  themselves  to  the  furtherance  and  representa- 
tion of  purely  local  interests. ' ' 19 

As  in  France  the  sphere  of  municipal  competence  is  delimited 
rather  by  the  prohibitions  laid  on  city  action  than  by  an  enu- 
meration of  powers.  As  in  France,  also,  the  line  within  which 
the  city  may  act  is  drawn  rather  closely  by  the  provisions  of 
law  which  subject  municipal  action  to  central  administrative 
control. 

Political  parties  of  great  strength  have  not  for  some  reason 
developed  in  Germany,  and,  as  in  England,  cities  have  been 
able  to  devise  and  put  into  execution  purely  municipal  policies, 
little  if  at  all  affected  by  considerations  of  national  politics. 

Thus  in  continental  Europe,  as  well  as  in  England,  conditions 

are  such  as  not  to  encourage  interference  in  city  affairs  by  that 

\   arch  political  body,   the  legislature.     Special   legislation   with 

\  regard  to  cities  is  almost  unknown  and  the  organization  of  cities 

may  be  framed  with  little  regard  to  the  interests  of  political 

parties  and  with  the  idea  of  fashioning  the  best  possible  machine 

for  the  discharge  of  the  functions  which  the  city  must  discharge. 

Cities  and  Political  Parties  in  Europe.  By  what  has  been  said 
it  is  not  intended  to  imply  that  national  political  parties  take 
no  part  in  and  have  no  influence  on  municipal  elections.  Such 
a  statement  would  be  contrary  to  fact;  for  everywhere  in 
Europe,  and  particularly  in  France,  candidates  for  municipal 
office  have  national  party  affiliations  which  are  commonly  known 
and  unquestionably  influence  the  result  of  the  election.  But 
once  in  office  public  opinion  generally  demands  of  them  that 
they  discharge  their  duties  as  representatives  of  the  city  with 
its  interests  in  mind. 

The  legal  and  extra-legal  conditions  in  Europe  are  thus  such 
I  as  to  encourage  rather  than  discourage  the  consideration  and 
1  decision  of  municipal  issues  on  their  merits  and  not  as  influencing 
National  issues. 

i»  "Entscheidungen  des  Oberverwaltungsgerichts,"  Vol.  XIV,  p.  76. 


POSITION  OF  THE  CITY  IN  THE  STATE        119 

Conclusions.  It  has  been  seen,  then,  that  the  modern  munic- 
ipal problem  may  be  said  to  have  had  its  origin  about  the  end 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  that  in  making  use  of  the  munic- 
ipal corporations  as  agencies  in  the  solution  of  that  problem, 
there  has  come  a  general  recognition  that  the  city  should  hold 
a  two-fold  position^' first  as  an  administrative  district  of  the 
state,  and  second,  as^n  organ  of  local  government.  Since  the 
city  is  first  of  all  a  subordinate  member  of  a  larger  state,  its 
relations  to  the  state  must  be  defined.  These  relations  are  both 
legal  and  political.  Two  methoda^f  determining  these  relations 
are  found:  tl^ English,  and  the^ontinental.  Under  the  Eng- 
lish method  the  legal  position  of  the  city  is  found  to  be  that  of 
a  corporation  of  strictly  enumerated  powers,  formerly  always 
conferred  by  special  charter,  but  more  recently  by  laws  which, 
in  form  at  least,  are  general. 

The  real  place  of  the  city  in  the  governmental  system,  however, 
is  dependent  largely  on  the  attitude  of  the  policy-directing  power 
of  the  state.  While  the  legislatures  in  the  United  States  have 
recognized  the  existence  of  a  field  of  purely  local  concern  appro- 
priate to  the  activities  of  municipal  government,  they  have  not 
clearly  defined  the  field  nor  have  they  shown  a  disposition  to 
refrain  from  legislative  invasion  therein.  On  the  contrary,  they 
have  continually  interfered  in  purely  local  affairs,  often  to  the 
detriment  of  the  locality.  This  has  brought  into  prominence  the 
question  of  "municipal  home  rule."  From  time  to  time  con- 
stitutional safeguards  have  been  thrown  around  cities,  among 
which  the  most  successful  has  been  that  of  conferring  upon 
cities  the  power  to  frame  their  own  charters  and,  within  broad 
limits,  to  determine  the  scope  of  the  activities.  There  has  been 
gradually  emerging  a  group  of  activities  in  the  field  of  local 
improvements  which  are  coming  generally  to  be  recognized  as 
properly  belonging  to  the  city  free  from  external  interfer- 
ence. 

Owing  to  the  exigencies  of  party  politics,  parties  have  sought 
and  held  a  controlling  influence  in  city  affairs,  and  though  it 
has  become  more  easy  than  formerly  to  distinguish  local  from 
retate  and  national  issues,  yet  the  practice  of  employing  local 
[officials  in  the  administration  of  state  laws  still  presents  a  suffi- 


120  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

cient  reason  for  maintaining  the  interest  of  state  parties  in  local  J 
affairs  and  city  elections. 

While  the  legal  position  of  the  English  city  is  similar  to  that 
of  cities  in  the  United  States,  and  while  in  the  earlier  part  of  the 
nineteenth  century  the  political  attitude  of  Parliament  was  not 
dissimilar  to  that  evinced  by  the  American  legislature,  the 
later  policy  of  Parliament  has  been  such  as  to  leave  cities  a 
much  greater  degree  of  freedom  in  their  local  affairs  than  is 
enjoyed  in  America,  The  continental  method  of  defining  the 
relations  of  the  cities  to  the  state  treats  the  city  as  an  authority 
of  general  powers.  Cities,  both  in  Prussia  and  in  France,  enjoy 
under  general  laws  broad  powers  over  both  their  organization 
and  functions.  Furthermore,  there  has  been  shown  no  dispo- 
sition on  the  part  of  central  legislative  bodies  to  interfere  unduly 
in  local  affairs  but  the  localities  have  been  left  to  exercise  their 
broad  powers  under  rather  careful  administrative  supervision. 
Neither  in  England  nor  on  the  continent,  save  with  few  excep- 
tions, have  political  parties  found  it  desirable  to  interest  them- 
selves in  municipal  affairs. 

Thus  it  has  come  about  through  extra-legal  means  that  in  the 
countries  where  cities  are  protected  by  no  constitutional  guar- 
anties, but  are  thrown  wholly  on  the  mercies  of  the  legislative 
power,  as  in  Prussia,  France,  and  England,  they  have  been 
given,  and  today  enjoy,  a  much  greater  degree  of  what  may  be 
termed  "municipal  home  rule"  than  is  the  case  in  most  of  the 
states  of  the  United  States,  where  constitutional  safeguards  have 
been  erected,  and  where  local  self-government  is,  in  theory, 
highly  prized. 


CHAPTER  VII 

STATE  CONTROL  OVER   CITIES 

REFERENCES  : 

Goodnow,  F.  J.,  "Municipal  Home  Rule,"  Chap.  XJI.  Goodnow,  F.  J., 
"Municipal  Problems,"  Chaps.  IV,  V  and  VI.  Munro,  W.  B.,  "Govern- 
ment," pp.  313-339.  Ashley,  P.,  "Local  and  Central  Government,"  Chaps. 
X  and  XI.  Odgers,  W.  B.,  and  Naldrett,  E.  J.,  "Local  Government," 
Chap.  XII.  Redlich,  J.,  and  Hirst,  F.  W.,  "Local  Government  in  Eng- 
land," Vol.  II,  pp.  237-372.  Jenks,  E.,  "Local  Government  in  England." 
Goodnow,  F.  J.,  "Administrative  Aspects  of  State  Central  Control,"  "Pro- 
ceedings of  the  National  Municipal  League,"  1905,  pp.  252-255.  Lowell, 
A.  L.,  "Government  of  England,"  Vol.  II,  Chap.  XLVI. 


/"*)of 


Necessity  of  State  Control.  The  fact  that  the  city  is  discharg- 
ing many  functions  which  have  been  assigned  to  it  as  an  agent 
the  state  government  makes  it  necessary  that  the  state  shall 
exercise  some  sort  of  a  control  over  it.  The  further  fact  that 
matters  which  are  at  one  time  regarded  as  of  municipal  interest 
kecome>  with  the  course  of  social  development,  of  interest  to  the 
state  as  a  whole  makes  it  necessary  that  the  state  should  always 
have  the  power  of  extending  its  control  over  matters  which  may 
at  one  time  be  regarded  as  distinctly  municipal  functions. 
3  Finally,  the  state  should  have  a  control  over  the  financial  ad- 
ministration of  cities  so  far  as  the  carrying  on  of  that  adminis- 
tration necessitates  the  exercise  of  the  taxing  and  the  borrowing 
powers. 

For  these  reasons  there  must  be  provided  in  the  governmental 
system  a  state  control  over  the  actions  of  municipalities.  But 
while  from  the  constitutional  point  of  view  the  control  which 
the  state  may  exercise  over  municipalities  should  be  a  very  broad 
one,  from  the  point  of  view  of  legislative  policy  this  control 
should  not  be  exercised  except  when  necessary.  Our  study  of 
the  history  of  municipal  development  shows  us  that  the  too 
extensive  exercise  of  the  control  of  the  state  over  the  municipality 
prevents  the  development  in  the  municipality  of  that  local  life 

121 


122  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

whose  existence  is  so  requisite  to  the  proper  occupation  of  that 
great  field  of  activity  opened  to  the  modern  municipality  by 
the  social  development  of  the  nineteenth  century.  There  is  a 
great  danger  that  the  municipality  may  be  hampered  by  the 
state  in  the  exercise  of  powers  which  are  necessary  to  municipal 
development.  There  is  also  great  danger  that  the  interests  of 
the  municipality  will  be  disregarded  by  the  state,  that  the 
municipality  will  be  sacrificed  to  the  state. 

Methods  of  Control.  If  the  laws  and  political  customs  of 
different  countries  are  examined  it  will  be  found  that,  in  the 
exercise  of  the  control  which  it  is  evident  that  the  state  should 
maintain  over  the  municipalities  within  its  borders,  two  methods 
have  been  adopted.  One  of  these,  the  legislative  method,  origi- 
nated in  England  where  it  has  been  to  a  large  degree  super- 
seded by  a  system  of  administrative  control,  and  was  subse- 
quently transplanted  in  America;  the  other,  the  administrative 
method,  originated  on  the  European  continent  where  it  uni- 
versally prevails,  and  was  adopted  in  England  during  the 
nineteenth  century.  Each  is  the  natural  outgrowth  of  the  insti- 
tutional history  of  the  country  in  which  it  came  into  being. 

Legislative  Control.  The  English,  or  legislative,  method  of 
control  starts  from  the  idea  of  a  completely  unified  and  central- 
ized state  governed  by  an  omnipotent  Parliament  to  which  all 
local  governmental  bodies  are  strictly  subordinated  and  by  which 
they  are  controlled.  This  conception  of  a  thoroughly  central- 
ized state  under  legislative  domination  is  due  probably  in  the 
first  place  to  the  fact  that  William  the  Conqueror  and  his 
successors  were  able  to  prevent  the  development  of  any  ideas 
of  feudal  autonomy  in  England,  and  in  the  second  place  to 
the  subsequent  development  of  a  parliament  which  in  course 
of  time  became  the  dominant  power  over  the  whole  kingdom. 

Alongside  this  intense  legislative  centralization  there  has  been 
an  equally  complete  acceptance  of  the  doctrine  that  such  powers 
as  have  been  assigned  to  the  localities  shall  be  administered 
by  officers  locally  chosen  and  free  from  the  control  of  strangers 
coming  in  the  name  of  the  state.  It  is  this  devotion  to  local 
self-government  which  forms  one  of  the  bases  for  the  popular 
demand  for  "municipal  home  rule."  Under  the  American  de- 


STATE  CONTROL  OVEE  CITIES  123 

velopment  of  this  system  of  government  it  is  the  legislature 
which  not  only  brings  the  city  into  existence  but  defines  its 
powers  with  great  particularity  of  enumeration.  The  legislative 
theory  is  that  the  law  having  defined  these  powers  and  duties, 
the  city  stands  responsible  to  the  law  for  their  due  exercise. 
If,  however,  the  city  fails  to  perform  its  duty  or  performs 
it  in  a  manner  prejudicial  to  the  larger  interests  of  the  state 
the  legislature  itself  has  no  adequate  means  of  coercion.  Since 
the  function  of  the  legislature  is  to  legislate,  the  only  method 
of  control  open  to  it  is  to  enact  additional  legislation  which  shall 
reiterate  in  greater  detail  the  duties  imposed.  The  result  is 
that  the  legislature  has  sought  to  anticipate  every  possible  con- 
tingency which  may  arise  and  provide  in  advance  in  great  de- 
tail for  every  situation  which  may  arise.  Beyond  this  the  legis- 
lature cannot  go,  and  if  compliance  with  the  legislative  mandate 
is  to  be  secured  resort  must  be  had  to  the  courts. 

Since  the  city  is  a  corporation  it  is  subject,  with  respect  to 
its  private  acts,  to  the  private  law  in  very  much  the  same  way 
as  is  a  private  corporation  or  an  individual.  In  its  public  ca- 
pacity the  city  is  subject  to  the  control  which  the  courts  have 
over  the  acts  of  public  officers  generally.  Moreover,  city  officers 
are  subject  to  the  control  of  the  criminal  law  like  other  public 
officers. 

It  would  appear,  then,  that  this  detailed  legislative  control, 
supplemented  by  a  judicial  control,  is,  in  theory  at  least,  quite 
complete.  It  will  be  found,  however,  that  in  practice  serious 
defects  present  themselves. 

Defects  of  legislative  Control.  The  development  and  evil  ef- 
fects of  legislative  domination  have  already  been  traced  in  the 
preceding  chapter  in  an  attempt  to  show  the  political  position 
in  the  state  which  is  occupied  by  the  city.1  These  effects,  how- 
ever, need  to  be  reviewed  here  briefly  in  order  to  indicate  the 
failure  of  legislative  action  as  a  means  of  control.  The  failure  to 
assign  to  the  city  a  definite  field  of  local  action,  and  the  conse- 
quent practice  of  enumeration  of  powers,  coupled  with  adherence 
to  the  doctrine  of  strict  construction  of  municipal  powers,  made 
necessary  frequent  resort  to  the  legislature  for  new  grants  of 

i  Supra,  p.  117. 


124  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

power.  I  The  result  was  grave  abuses  of  special  legislation  and 
interference  in  matters  of  purely  local  concern. 

Not  only  was  there  enacted  legislation  detrimental  to  local 
J£y  welfare,  but  local  spirit  and  civic  interest  were  crushed.     The 

[  legislature  has  failed  to  distinguish  between  the  local  govern- 
ment and  the  state  agency  of  cities,  and  has  extended  its  con- 
trol over  the  one  branch  of  activity  as  well  as  over  the  other. 
Distinctly  municipal  policies  are  frequently  determined  by  the 
state  legislatures.  The  legislature  cannot  be  blamed  for  acting 
as  it  has  acted  because  hardly  any  distinction  has  been  made  in 
the  minds  of  the  people  between  these  two  kinds  of  activity  and 
because  no  theory  of  the  proper  sphere  of  municipal  freedom 
of  action  has  been  formulated. 

The  exercise  of  the  legislative  control  over  cities  has  been 
disastrous  in  its  effect  upon  the  cities'  interests,  too,  because 

ja .this  control  has  been  exercised  in  tojo^jnanjSlJ^StSO^es  iQ  the 
*  interest  of  the  state  and  national  political  parties  ancT noT~t 

that  of  effective  municipal  gov6Tn'meiitr The~6fgaiiization  of 

cities  has  too  often  been  changed  not  because  the  change  made 
was  expected  to  make  the  city  a  more  efficient  governmental 
machine,  but  because  it  favored  the  political  party  in  control 
of  the  state  legislature. 

Besides  interfering  in  a  positive  way  by  unwarranted  im- 

->  position  of  burdens  upon  the  cities,  legislative  control  has  shown 
^  itself  ineffective  as  a  restraining  influence  when  restraint  upon 
local  action  would  have  been  salutary.  This  has  been  true 
often  when  the  legislature  has,  on  the  theory  that  the  cities 
ought  to  be  the  best  judges  of  their  needs,  acquiesced  in  the 
demands  of  the  cities  without  sufficiently  considering  their 
propriety.  A  marked  example  of  this  ineffectiveness  is  seen  in 
the  treatment  of  municipal  indebtedness.  While  the  cities'  have 
to  go  to  the  legislature  for  permission  to  borrow  money,  and 
the  legislature  has  thus  had  the  power  to  prevent  municipal 
extravagance,  the  legislature  has  acceded  so  frequently  to  the 
requests  of  the  cities  for  power  to  incur  debt,  that  the  control 
which  the  legislature  in  theory  has  possessed  might  just  as  well 
not  have  existed,  so  far  as  concerns  any  effect  that  it  has  had 


STATE  CONTROL  OVER  CITIES  125 

on  the  amount  of  municipal  indebtedness.  The  cities  of  the 
United  States  have  shown  themselves,  although  subject  to  this 
legislative  control,  as  extravagant  as  the  cities  of  Europe  had 
shown  themselves  in  the  days  when  they  were  independent  of 
state  control  over  their  finances. 

Defects  of  Judicial  Control.  Likewise  there  exist  practical 
reasons  tending  to  check  the  efficiency  of  the  courts  as  agencies 
of  control  supplementary  to  the  legislature.  In  the  first  place, 
since  promptness  is  an  important  element  in  the  working  of  an 
effective  control,  the  delays  and  technicalities  which  beset  the 
progress  of  causes  before  the  courts  seriously  diminish  the  use- 
fulness of  the  judiciary  as  a  means  of  control.  The  value  of 
the  courts  for  this  purpose  is  impaired  also  by  the  facts  that  both 
the  judges  themselves  and  the  public  prosecutors  are  usually 
chosen  by  popular  election,  and  that  the  juries  are  recruited 
from  the  local  citizenship.  Under  such  conditions  action  tending 
to  restrain  local  impulses  is  all  but  hopeless  when  state  and 
local  interests  are  in  conflict. 

While  courts  can  and  do  enforce  constitutional  and  statutory 
provisions  which  prohibit  action  on  the  part  of  cities,  such  as 
the  provisions  limiting  the  debt  incurring  power,  they  can  not 
and  do  not  enforce  with  the  same  success  many  legal  provisions 
imposing  positive  duties  on  cities  and  city  officers.  The  reason 
is  obvious.  In  one  case  the  prohibition  needs  no  further  action 
for  its  enforcement.  Any  attempt  on  the  part  of  a  city  to  in- 
crease its  debt  beyond  the  limit  fixed  in  the  law  can  be  declared 
invalid  by  the  courts,  and  any  bonds  that  may  have  been  issued 
can  be  and  are  held  void.  But  in  the  case  of  laws  imposing 
positive  duties  on  cities  and  city  officers,  like  the  laws  regulating 
the  liquor  traffic,  positive  action  on  the  part  of  the  city  is 
necessary  in  order  that  the  law  be  enforced.  Such  action  the 
courts  are  not  always  in  a  position  to  enforce.  Cases  in  the 
fields  of  education,  public  sanitation  and  public  charities  and  cor- 
rection may  be  mentioned  where  laws  imposing  positive  duties 
on  cities  and^city  officers  have  been  persistently  disobeyed. 
Thus  in  1850,^he  State  of  New  York  attempted  to  establish  a 
general  system  of  local  boards  of  health.  But  although  the 


I 


126  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

acts  passed  by  the  legislature  "were  mandatory  in  form,  there 
being  no  authority  to  enforce  them,  but  few  local  boards  were 
established. ' ' 2 

Constitutional  Limitations  on  Legislative  Control.  Just  as  in 
order  to  protect  the  sphere  of  private  rights  from  legislative  in- 
trusion, constitutional  guaranties  have  been  set  up,  so  to  avoid 
the  undue  interference  of  the  legislature  in  local  matters  which 
is  the  inevitable  accompaniment  ,of  the  attempt  to  maintain  legis- 
lative control,  provisions  have  been  inserted  in  state  constitutions 
limiting  legislative  power  with  respect  to  cities. 

These  limitations,  as  has  been  already  pointed  out,  include  the 
prohibition  of  incorporation  of  and  legislation  concerning  cities 
by  special  act ;  the  positive  requirement  that  general  laws  for  the 
incorporation  and  government  of  cities  be  enacted,  and  a  pro- 
vision securing  to  the  inhabitants  the  right  to  select  their  own 
officers.  In  some  states  acts  containing  specific  subjects  enumer- 
ated may  not  be  passed  in  special  form ;  elsewhere  special  legis- 
lation, while  permitted,  may  be  enacted  only  subject  to  the  ap- 
proval of  the  city  affected  or  at  least  after  such  city  has  been 
given  the  opportunity  to  be  heard  upon  the  subject.  The  ex- 
treme attempt  to  curb  legislative  control  occurs  in  the  case  of  the 
"home  rule"  provisions  in  several  constitutions  whereby  cities 
are  permitted  to  frame  and  adopt  their  own  charters. 

While  these  constitutional  provisions,  particularly  the  last 
mentioned,  have  done  much  to  fortify  the  position  of  the  cities  as 
against  the  state  legislature,  it  cannot  be  claimed  that  these  at- 
tempts to  restrain  legislative  activity  have  been  thoroughly  suc- 
cessful. Their  application  raises  two  questions,  the  answers  to 
which  are  by  no  means  free  from  uncertainties  and  perplexities. 
They  are,  first :  "What  are  special  acts  ?  and,  second :  What  are  the 
local  affairs  which  may  not  be  regulated  by  special  act  ? 3 

The  courts,  notwithstanding  constitutional  inhibitions,  have 
under  the  device  of  classification,  sometimes  a  subterfuge  of  the 
most  transparent  sort,  permitted  what  is  in  reality  special  legisla- 
tion. The  attempt  to  limit  legislative  power  has  likewise  been 

2  Fairlie,  "Centralization  of  Administration  in  New  York."  Columbia 
University  Studies,  etc.,  Vol.  IX,  p.  543. 

s  Goodnow,  "Municipal  Home  Rule,"  pp.  63-98. 


STATE  CONTROL  OVER  CITIES  127 

largely  frustrated  by  the  courts  through  their  decisions  holding 
that  the  sphere  of  municipal  activity  protected  by  the  constitu- 
tional prohibitions  is  on  the  whole  a  very  narrow  one. 

The  reasons  why  the  courts  took  the  attitude  they  did  are, 
in  the  first  place,  the  necessity  for  local  development,  which 
involves  some  amount  of  special  legislation  under  a  scheme  of 
enumerated  powers;  and,  in  the  second  place,  the  fact  that  the 
legislative  control  was  the  only  control  over  cities  which  existed 
in  the  American  administrative  system.  If  the  courts  there- 
fore had  construed  the  constitutional  provisions  so  as  to  destroy 
this  control  there  would  have  been  great  danger  that  the  cities 
would  become  imperia  w  imperio  and  that  thus  state  government 
would  have  disintegrated. 

It  would  therefore  seem  as  if  any  method  of  limiting  the  con- 
trol of  the  state  over  the  city,  which  is  based  upon  a  cons,titu- 
tional  denial  of  the  power  of  the  state  government  to  interfere  in 
municipal  matters,  were  foredoomed  to  failure.  It  would  seem 
that  in  order  to  solve  this  problem  of  state  control  over  munici- 
palities the  attempt  should  be  made  so  to  organize  the  control 
that  the  state  authorities  would  not  be  tempted  to  exercise  it 
improperly,  while  the  existence  of  their  power  should  not  be 
denied.  It  has  been  shown  that  the  main  cause  of  the  improper 
extension  of  the  control  of  the  state  over  the  cities  in  the  United 
States  is  to  be  found  in  the  very  narrow  powers  which  the  city 
possesses,  and  that,  if  we  may  judge  from  both  European  and 
American  experience,  such  improper  extension  of  the  legislative 
control  over  cities  may  be  discouraged  by  the  grant  of  general 
powers  of  government  to  the  cities. 

The  mere  grant  to  cities  of  general  powers  of  government 
does  not,  however,  make  any  provision  for  the  control  which 
it  has  been  shown  that  the  state  must  exercise  over  munici- 
palities. Indeed,  the  recognition  of  general  powers  in  the  munic- 
ipalities would  be  extremely  dangerous  to  the  welfare  of  the 
state  as  a  whole  if  some  means  were  not  devised  of  assuring  to 
the  state  a  control  over  the  actions  of  the  cities.  This  control 
is  on  the  continent  and  to  a  less  degree  in  England  an  administra- 
tive control,  which  is  the  second  method  of  providing  for  the 
necessary  state  control. 


128  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

Administrative  Control.  While  in  England  and  the  United 
States  the  centralization  of  government  which  has  been  secured 
is  a  legislative  centralization,  on  the  continent  the  centraliza- 
tion has  been  administrative  rather  than  legislative.  The  great 
influence  of  feudal  ideas  on  the  continent  prevented  the  develop- 
ment of  the  idea  of  the  unity  of  the  state,  and  no  general  repre- 
sentative legislative  authority  was  established  in  early  times. 
There  were  formed  in  both  France  and  Germany  local  legislative 
bodies  whose  powers  varied  considerably  at  different  times.  The 
only  unity  in  the  state  government  was  to  be  found  in  the  ad- 
ministration with  the  Crown  at  its  head.  The  purpose  of  the 
absolute  monarchy  everywhere  was  to  realize  the  idea  of  national 
unity.  The  absolute  monarchy  on  the  continent  did,  it  is  true, 
endeavor  with  varying  degrees  of  success  to  extend  its  centraliza- 
tion to  matters  of  legislation  as  well  as  of  administration,  but  the 
chief  success  of  the  Crown  in  its  attempts  at  centralization  was 
in  the  domain  of  administration.  By  the  time  of  the  French 
Revolution  its  success  was  almost  complete.  In  France,  as  we 
have  seen,  the  Crown  had  succeeded  in  forcing  its  general  scheme 
of  municipal  administration  on  all  cities  in  the  kingdom  and  had, 
as  a  result  of  the  general  ordinances  in  which  this  scheme  was  to 
be  found,  secured  a  very  large  control  over  the  administration 
of  municipal  affairs,  appointing  most  of  the  important  officers. 
The  influence  of  the  French  Revolution  was  in  the  same  direc- 
tion. It  secured  unity  to  France  and  the  great  law  of  1800  made 
the  city  but  a  part  of  the  central  administration,  giving'  the  cen- 
tral government  the  appointment  of  all  city  officers  and  sub- 
jecting their  action  to  a  most  strict  central  administrative  con- 
trol. After  the  unity  of  the  state  had  been  secured,  however, 
and  the  supremacy  of  the  central  legislative  power  had  been  ac- 
knowledged the  administration  began  to  be  decentralized.  This 
decentralization  did  not,  however,  result  in  the  denial  of  the 
right  of  the  central  administration  to  control  the  government  of 
the  cities  where  the  interests  of  the  state  as  a  whole  were  affected. 
It  merely  provided  that,  where  privileges  of  local  government 
could  be  granted  with  due  regard  to  the  interests  of  the  state, 
this  should  be  done. 

The  same  is  true  of  Prussia.    The  centralization  of  municipal 


STATE  CONTROL  OVER  CITIES  129 

administration  had  the  same  result  as  in  France,  that  is,  the 
practical  absorption  of  all  municipal  administration  into  central 
state  administration.  In  Prussia  further  as  in  France,  and! 
largely  due  to  the  same  causes,  a  central  representative  legis- 
lature played  a  very  unimportant  role.  Indeed,  it  did  not  ap- 
pear in  -Prussian  history  until  about  1848.  The  administra- 
tion with  the  Crown  at  its  head  attended  to  legislative  as  well  as 
to  administrative  matters.  Since  1808,  the  date  of  the  passage  of 
the  great  cities'  act,  the  administration,  as  in  France,  has  been 
much  decentralized.  Particularly  is  this  the  case  within  the  last 
fifty  years.  But,  as  in  France,  notwithstanding  the  grant  of 
large  privileges  of  local  government  to  the  cities,  the  central 
administration  has  large  powers  of  control  over  their  actions  in 
so  far  as  these  affect  the  interests  of  the  state  as  a  whole. 

The  unimportance,  indeed  the  absence  for  so  long  a  time  of 
any  central  legislative  authority,  had  of  course  an  important  in- 
fluence on  the  position  which  the  administration  occupied  in  the 
post-revolutionary  system  of  governmental  polity.  Whereas,  in 
England,  owing  to  the  early  recognition  of  the  supremacy  of 
the  central  legislative  body,  Parliament,  administrative  officers 
owed  allegiance  to  that  body  and  official  duties  were  minutely 
prescribed  in  its  mandates,  on  the  continent,  on  account  of  the 
absence  of  any  central  legislature,  administrative  officers  owed 
allegiance  to  some  administrative  superior  whose  instructions 
delimited  their  competence  and  prescribed  their  duties.  When 
the  central  state  legislature  was  finally  established  on  the  conti- 
nent it  naturally  occupied  a  position  very  different  from  that 
of  the  English  Parliament  and  the  American  state  legislature. 
The  fact  that  the  detailed  duties  of  subordinate  administrative 
officers  had  from  time  immemorial  been  prescribed  by  royal 
ordinances  and  ministerial  circulars  of  instructions  made  it  per- 
fectly natural  for  the  legislature,  so  far  as  it  interfered  with  the 
administration  at  all,  to  confine  its  interference  merely  to  the 
laying  down  of  general  principles  which  were  to  be  elaborated 
in  detail  by  ordinance  and  instruction  and  to  permit  the  ad- 
ministration to  continue  to  exercise  in  the  future  as  it  had  exer- 
cised in  the  past  a  control  over  the  governmental  affairs  of  the 
local  communities.  This  control  hereafter  differed  from  what  it 


130  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

had  been  in  the  past  only  in  that  it  was  no  longer  entirely 
arbitrary  but  was  to  be  exercised  within  the  general  limits  fixed 
by  legislation  and  was  in  some  cases  subject  to  judicial  revision. 
But  the  predominant  position  of  the  administrative  organization 
and  its  recognized  efficiency  made  it  not  only  unnecessary  but 
also  inexpedient  and  unnatural  for  the  legislature  to  assume 
the  same  special  control  over  administrative  matters  which  it 
had  been  the  recognized  policy  of  the  English  Parliament  to 
exercise. 

To  these  reasons  is  due  the  fact  that  on  the  continent  the 
central  administrative  control  exercised  over  municipalities, 
which  is  the  remnant  now  left  of  the  idea  that  all  administration 
is  state  administration,  is  merely  a  part  of  the  general  administra- 
tive centralization,  and  is  exercised  by  the  ordinary  central 
administrative  authorities,  either  the  executive  departments  at 
the  capital  of  the  state  or  the  general  representatives  which  the 
central  administration  has  always  had  and  now  has  in  the 
localities  and  which  are  an  essential  part  of  a  centralized  ad- 
ministrative system. 

In  England  a  centralized  administrative  control  similar  in 
many  respects  to  that  existing  at  the  time  on  the  continent  was 
developed  during  the  nineteenth  century.  It  could  not,  however, 
be  organized  in  the  same  way  in  which  the  continental  system 
was  organized.  The  original  local  self-government  system  of 
England  could  not  adapt  itself  to  the  changed  conditions  necessi- 
tated by  the  existence  of  a  central  administrative  control,  with- 
out being  completely  remodeled.  The  central  administration 
had  no  representatives  in  the  provinces,  but  matters  of  general 
interest  were  attended  to  there  by  local  officers,  that  is,  the  jus- 
tices of  the  peace.  Therefore  the  new  legislation  of  Parliament, 
beginning  with  the  Poor  Law  Amendment  Act  of  1834,  super- 
imposed upon  the  original  local  self-government  system  a  new 
system  of  administration  with  what  is  now  the  Local  Govern- 
ment Board  at  London  at  its  head,  to  which  have  been  given  large 
powers  of  control  over  the  local  authorities  established  since  1834. 
When  the  matter  of  education  became  one  in  which  the  local 
communities  interested  themselves,  a  similar  control  over  the 
exercise  of  their  school  powers  was  vested  in  the  Privy  Council. 


STATE  CONTROL  OVER  CITIES  131 

A  comparison  of  the  existing  continental  and  English  systems 
of  central  administrative  control  over  municipalities  must  there- 
fore start  from  different  points  of  view.  On  the  continent  the 
start  must  be  made  from  a  completely  centralized  administra- 
tion. In  England  we  must  start  from  a  completely  decentral- 
ized system. 

Administrative  Control  in  Prussia.  On  the  continent,  then,  at 
the  beginning  of  the  last  century  the  city  was  merely  a  part  of 
the  general  administration  and  its  authorities  were  for  the  most 
part  appointed  by  the  central  administrative  authorities.  The 
first  change  was  made  by  Prussia  in  the  act  of  1808,  which  gave 
large  powers  to  the  cities.  But  notwithstanding  the  great  steps 
which  have  been  taken  in  recognizing  that  cities  have  a  sphere 
of  action  which  is  theoretically  independent  of  that  of  the 
central  government,  the  old  idea  that  cities  are  parts  of  the 
general  system  of  administration  still  has  influence  on  their  rela- 
tions with  the  central  government.  This  is  seen  in  the  power 
possessed  by  the  central  state  administration  to  disapprove  the 
choice  by  the  city  councils  of  their  most  important  executive  of- 
ficers, and  to  dissolve  the  city  councils  themselves.  Up  to  1883 
the  central  administration  had  the  further  power  of  uncondi- 
tionally vetoing  all  resolutions  of  the  city  council  and  the  city 
executive.  Since  1883,  however,  the  council  or  the  executive 
may  appeal  to  the  proper  administrative  courts  from  such  veto. 
A  similar  power  of  appeal  is  given  to  the  council  against  the  exer- 
cise of  the  veto  power  over  council  resolutions  which  is  pos- 
sessed by  the  city  executive.  The  courts  which  hear  these  ap- 
peals in  first  instance  are  not  controlled  altogether  by  officers 
learned  in  the  law,  but  by  lay  members  who  are  elected  indi- 
rectly by  the  people.  The  powers  of  veto  of  the  professional  cen- 
tral administration  and  of  the  city  executive,  in  whose  forma- 
tion the  central  administration  participates  through  its  power  of 
approving  the  appointments  of  the  council,  can  therefore  be  exer- 
cised neither  arbitrarily  nor  altogether  in  the  interest  of  the 
state. 

Finally,  the  central  administration  may,  when  the  local  author- 
ities neglect  or  refuse  to  do  so,  insert  in  the  budget  of  the  city, 
appropriations  for  obligatory  expenses,  that  is  expenses  for 


132  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

branches  of  administration  which  the  law  says  shall  be  supported 
by  the  cities,  and  may  make  provision  for  the  levy  of  the  neces- 
sary taxes.  Appeal  from  its  decisions  may  be  taken  to  the  su- 
preme administrative  court,  a  body  of  a  purely  professional 
character  and  learned  in  the  law.  The  difference  in  the  bodies 
to  which  appeals  go  in  these  cases  is  due  to  the  difference  in  the 
nature  of  the  decisions  appealed  from.  Those  of  a  political  na- 
ture, to  be  decided  from  the  point  of  view  of  expediency,  go  to 
a  popular  body.  Those  of  a  legal  nature  go  to  a  body  learned 
in  the  law. 

So  far  it  will  be  noticed  that  with  the  exception  of  the  powers 
of  dissolving  the  municipal  council  and  of  approving  municipal 
appointments,  the  control  which  has  been  considered,  has  been 
formed  mainly  with  the  idea  of  keeping  the  city  within  the 
bounds  of  its  legal  competence.  "While  its  legal  competence  is 
ultimately  determined  by  judicial  bodies,  the  powers  of  control 
of  the  central  administration  are  very  valuable,  inasmuch  as  the 
law  thus  makes  it  expressly  the  business  of  the  central  adminis- 
tration to  force  the  cities  to  obey  the  law.  Reliance  is  not  placed 
upon  private  interest  alone,  as  in  the  United  States,  where  prac- 
tically the  only  way  in  which  the  courts  can  keep  the  cities  or 
other  authorities  within  the  law  is  as  a  result  of  the  application 
of  private  persons  whose  rights  have  been  violated  by  the  illegal 
acts  of  the  authorities  complained  of. 

Prussian  Cities  as  Agents  of  the  State.  As  has  been  intimated, 
the  Prussian  city  is  the  agent  of  the  state  government  in  a  num- 
ber of  cases :  thus,  a  city  of  25,000  inhabitants  is  exempted  from 
the  circle,  a  division  corresponding  to  the  American  county,  but 
generally  smaller,  and  forms  by  itself  an  urban-circle,  as  it  is 
called.  All  the  duties  devolved  upon  the  ordinary  circle  then  are 
devolved  upon  the  cities.  Thus  again,  the  city  generally  attends 
to  the  administration  of  the  schools,  and  to  the  care  of  the  poor, 
and  has  functions  to  discharge  relative  to  the  administration  of 
justice.  Where  it  is  not  of  large  size  it  also  has  the  care  of  the 
police,  which  term  is  used  in  its  widest  sense,  embracing  not  only 
the  preservation  of  the  peace  but  also  the  care  of  the  public 
health  and  the  protection  of  the  safety  of  the  people  generally, 
including  the  prevention  and  extinguishment  of  fires.  In  the 


STATE  CONTROL  OVER  CITIES  133 

case  of  the  larger  cities,  however,  the  law,  recognizing  that  the 
police  is  not  a  local  matter,  gives  the  central  administration  the 
power,  if  it  sees  fit,  to  take  this  matter  into  its  own  hands  by  ap- 
pointing the  persons  who  are  to  have  charge  of  it.  Where  this  is 
done  the  expense  of  the  police  administration  is  shared  between 
the  city  and  the  central  government  in  the  proportions  provided 
for  by  law. 

In  all  of  these  cases  where  the  city  is  acting  as  agent  of  the 
central  government  it,  as  such  agent,  is  subject  to  the  direction 
and  control  of  the  higher  authorities  having  jurisdiction  over 
these  branches  of  governmental  activity  in  the  country  at  large. 
The  fact  that  these  functions  are  attended  to  by  the  city  or  city 
officers  does  not  change  their  character.  The  cities  are  sometimes 
given  discretionary  powers  relative  to  these  matters,  mainly  of 
a  supplementary  character,  but  the  central  administration  does 
not  lose  its  power  to  insist  upon  the  taking  of  a  certain  minimum 
of  action.4 

4  This  fact  comes  out  most  clearly  in  the  school  administration,  which 
is  one  of  the  most  important  matters  attended  to  by  the  city.  In  the 
first  place  the  general  system  of  instruction  is  prescribed  by  central 
legislation  and  controlled  by  the  central  administration,  although  the 
city  school  board,  which  consists  partly  of  members  selected  by  the  city 
council,  attends  to  the  details  of  school  administration,  such  as  manag- 
ing the  school  property,  carrying  out  the  provisions  of  the  school  budget 
which  is  ultimately  fixed  by  the  city  council,  supervising  the  execution 
of  the  school  law,  and  compelling  school  attendance. 

In  the  second  place  the  city  council  generally  appoints,  subject  to  the 
approval  of  the  central  administration,  all  teachers  and,  most  important 
of  all  its  school  duties,  attends  to  the  school  finances.  Here,  however, 
the  council  is  subject  to  the  control  of  the  central  administration,  which 
may  force  it  to  provide  the  necessary  school  buildings  and  apparatus  and 
money  for  compensation  of  teachers.  In  case,  however,  of  difference  of 
opinion  between  the  city  and  the  central  administration  as  to  new  school 
buildings  or  repairs  of  old  buildings,  the  matter  is  decided  on  appeal  by 
the  proper  administrative  courts,  and  in  making  provision  for  new  teach- 
ers the  supervisory  authority  has  to  bear  in  mind  the  financial  conditions 
of  the  city  as  well  as  the  needs  of  the  schools. 

While  every  city  is  obliged  by  law,  which  it  may  be  forced  by  the 
central  administration  to  obey,  to  support  the  necessary  primary  schools, 
it  may  undertake  the  maintenance  of  higher  schools.  Where  this  is  done 
the  city  school  board  has  charge  merely  of  the  physical  conditions  of 
the  schools,  the  pedagogical  side  of  their  administration  being  under 


134  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

The  central  control,  further,  is  exercised  over  the  financial 
administration  of  the  city.  Thus,  subject  to  certain  limita- 
tions contained  for  the  most  part  in  the  German  constitution  and 
adopted  in  the  interest  of  German  unity  and  the  Imperial 
finances,  Prussian  cities  have  the  power  to  impose  almost  any 
kind  of  tax  they  see  fit.  They  may  thus  impose  direct  and  in- 
direct taxes  provided  such  municipal  direct  taxes  are  levied  on 
lands,  buildings,  income  and  trade  in  certain  ratios.  Where  it 
is  desired  to  depart  from  the  ratios  fixed  by  the  law  the  consent 
of  the  central  administrative  officers  must  be  obtained.  Central 
approval  to  be  given  by  one  of  the  popular  authorities  referred 
to  is  also  necessary  for  all  loans  increasing  the  city  debt. 

Administrative  Control  in  France.  In  France  the  main  fea- 
tures of  the  system  of  central  control  are  the  same  as  in  Prussia, 
although  the  control  is  not  nearly  so  complicated  because  of  the 
greater  simplicity  of  the  general  French  administrative  system. 
/  Four  principal  ways  may  be  distinguished  in  which  this  control 
finds  expression.  The  central  administration  has,  as  in  Prussia, 
the  power  to  dissolve  the  municipal  council  and  remove  the  execu- 
tive, namely  the  mayor  and  his  deputies,  although  its  approval 
of  their  election  is  not  necessary.  In  the  second  place,  the  mayor, 
who  is  regarded  for  a  series  of  matters  as  the  direct  agent  of  the 
central  administration  in  the  city,  acts  as  such  agent  under 
the  direction  of  the  central  administration.  The  central  authori- 
ties at  Paris  may  not  only  suspend  him  and  remove  him  from  of- 
fice but  may  themselves  perform  any  of  the  duties  of  the  mayor 
which  he  refuses  to  perform,  and  may  disapprove  any  of  the 
police  ordinances  which  he  issues. 

The  central  administration  may  also  as  in  Prussia  force  the 
municipality  to  perform  the  duties  imposed  upon  it  by  the  law, 
by  inserting  in  the  municipal  budget  appropriations  for  obliga- 
tory expenses  in  case  of  the  refusal  of  the  city  council  to  act, 
and  by  making  provision  for  the  levy  of  the  necessary  taxes,  and 
may  prevent  the  municipality,  by  disapproving  its  actions,  from 

the  control  of  the  principals  and  of  the  central  school  authorities.  Finally, 
it  is  to  be  noticed  that  the  central  state  government  in  case  of  necessity 
gives  aid  to  the  cities  to  enable  them  to  maintain  both  the  higher  and 
the  lower  schools.  (Leidig,  "Preussisches  Stadtrecht,"  pp.  464  et  seq.) 


STATE  CONTROL  OVER  CITIES  135 

exceeding  the  powers  granted  to  it  by  the  law.  The  same  sort 
of  control  as  in  Prussia  is  given  to  the  central  administration  over 
the  financial  administration  of  the  city.  ^ 

Finally,  the  same  principle  has  been  adopted  of  allowing  the 
cities  to  appeal  from  the  decisions  of  the  central  administration 
disapproving  resolutions  of  the  municipal  council  on  the  ground 
of  excess  of  powers.  The  appeal  goes  to  the  administrative 
courts,  which  in  France  are  not  however  at  all  popular  in  charac- 
ter, but  are  almost  a  part  of  the  professional  central  administra- 
tion.5 State  control  over  cities  in  Italy  is  administrative  in 
character  and  is  in  its  general  features  modelled  on  the  French 
system. 

Such  is  the  way  in  which  the  central  administrative  con- 
trol over  cities  is  organized  and  exercised  on  the  continent.  It  is, 
as  has  been  said,  a  part  of  the  general  administrative  system  and 
is  a  relic  of  the  time  when  municipal  administration  was  re- 
garded as  a  part  of  general  state  administration;  but,  as  will 
be  shown,  under  it  municipal  corporations  have  a  very  large 
sphere  of  local  action,  and  whether  due  to  it  or  to  the  form  of 
organization  or  to  other  causes,  municipal  government  has  been, 
particularly  in  Germany,  very  successful. 

Administrative  Control  in  England.     In  England  the  central 
control  over  cities  is  quite  differently  organized.     The  English 
municipal  organization  proper  is  a  part  of  the  old  English  local 
government  system,  which  was  quite  decentralized.     The  only 
original  method  of  central  administrative  control  over  cities  is  to 
be  found  in  the  power  of  the  Privy  Council  to  disapprove  munici-*^ 
pal  ordinances.     All  other  control  was  exercised  through  special 
legislation  of  which  it  has  been  shown  there  has  been  a  large  r 
amount  even  since  the  passage  of  the  general  Municipal  Corpora- 
tions Act  of  1835. 

With  the  course  of  time,  however,  the  power  of  the  central  ad- 
ministration over  cities  has  been  strengthened.  This  has  come 
about  in  two  ways :  in  the  first  place,  as  the  general  administra- 
tive system  of  the  country  has  been  more  centralized  the  city, 
upon  which  new  functions  of  a  public  character  have  been  im- 
posed, has  been  subjected  to.  the  central  administrative  control 

s  Law  of  April  5,  1884,  Article  67. 


136  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

in  the  same  way  as  other  local  authorities.  In  the  second  place, 
the  general  spread  of  centralization  has  not  failed  to  have  its 
influence  on  tne  purely  "borough"  affairs,  i.  e.  affairs  from  time 
immemorial  attended  to  by  the  boroughs. 

English  Cities  as  Agents  of  the  State.  The  first  step  in  cen- 
tralizing English  administration  was  taken  in  the  Poor  Law 
Amendment  Act  of  1834,  which  established  a  central  poor  law 
commission,  afterwards  converted  into  a  board,  to  control  the 
actions  of  the  local  poor  law  authorities  which  were  then  estab- 
lished. The  city  has,  it  is  true,  never  been  given  the  charge  of 
the  poor  and  a  municipal  district  bears  no  relation  to  the  poor 
law  district,  the  union.8 

But  the  next  step,  taken  in  the  public  health  act  passed  about 
the  middle  of  the  century  and  later  consolidated  with  its  amend- 
ments into  the  Consolidated  Public  Health  Act  of  1875,  made  the 
city  an  urban  sanitary  authority.  As  such  urban  sanitary 
district  it  has  been  made  subject,  as  all  sanitary  districts,  to  a 
very  strict  control  exercised  by  the  Local  Government  Board 
established  in  1871,  and  the  successor  of  the  old  poor  law  and 
health  boards.  The  functions  discharged  by  a  municipality  as  an 
urban  sanitary  district  were  so  wide  in  extent  and  so  varied  in 
nature,  being  in  many  cases  only  indirectly  of  a  sanitary  nature, 
that  it  was  believed  that  the  name  "urban  sanitary  district"  was 
not  at  all  indicative  of  the  functions  to  which  the  municipal 
authorities  attended  as  urban  authorities.  In  1894,  therefore, 
when  a  considerable  change  was  made  in  the  local  government 
institutions  by  the  passage  of  the  Local  Government  Act  of  1894, 
the  term  "urban  sanitary  district"  was  abandoned  and  the  term 
"urban  district"  adopted.  Since  the  passage  of  that  act  every 
borough  or  municipal  corporation  is  at  the  same  time  an  urban 
district  and  the  corporate  authorities  are  urban  district  authori- 
ties. It  is  said  that  as  urban  district  authority  the  borough  has 
more  functions  to  discharge  than  as  borough  or  corporate 
authority. 

"When  public  schools  in  the  American  sense  of  the  word  were 

o  The  recent  report  of  the  Poor  Law  Commission  advocates  the  grant 
to  the  city  of  the  care  of  the  poor. 


STATE  CONTROL  OVER  CITIES  137 

established  in  1870  the  borough  was  made  a  school  district.  The 
borough  council  did  not  become  the  local  school  authority,  which 
took  the  form  of  a  school  board  elected  as  were  all  other  school 
boards.  By  the  Education  Act  of  1902,  however,  the  borough 
council  has  been  made  the  borough  school  authority  and  acts,  as 
do  all  school  authorities,  under  the  central  administrative  control 
of  the  Education  Department.  The  centralization  of  the  general 
administrative  system  of  England  has  thus  subjected  to  a  central 
administrative  control  many  functions  such  as  the  care  of  the 
public  health,  schools  and  streets,  which  are  commonly  regarded 
in  the  United  States  as  functions  of  city  government. 

Central  Control  of  local  Matters.  In  the  second  place,  matters 
always  attended  to  by  the  municipal  boroughs  have  felt  the  in- 
fluence of  these  centralizing  tendencies.  Acts  of  1856  and  1888 
provided  for  a  consolidation  with  the  county  police  of  the  police 
forces  of  all  boroughs  of  less  than  ten  thousand  inhabitants. 
The  act  of  1856  further  introduced  a  central  control  over  the 
municipal  administration  of  police  in  the  larger  boroughs  by  pro- 
viding that  the  central  government  should  aid  all  boroughs  in 
maintaining  a  police  force,  provided  a  certain  standard  of  effi- 
ciency was  maintained.  This  is  to  be  evidenced  by  the  certificate 
of  the  Home  Secretary  granted  only  after  an  inspection  of  the 
work  done  by  the  borough. 

The  financial  powers,  particularly  the  borrowing  powers  of 
cities  acting  both  as  boroughs  and  as  urban  districts,  have  been 
limited  in  that  they  have  frequently  been  subjected  to  the  cen- 
tral administrative  control  now  exercised  by  the  Local  Govern- 
ment Board  at  London.7  But  this  control  has  been  much 
weakened  through  the  passage  of  special  acts  of  Parliament  giv- 
ing permission  to  depart  from  the  rule  laid  down  in  the  general 
law,  a  fact  which  shows  how  much  less  useful  is  the  legislative 
than  the  administrative  control  when  looked  at  merely  from  the 
viewpoint  of  the  exercise  of  an  efficient  control  in  the  interest  of 
the  state. 

While  all  other  local  corporations  in  England,  as  well  as  cities 

t  Arminjon,  "L' Administration  Locale  de  1'Angleterre,"  p.  215.  Maltbie, 
"The  English  Local  Government  Board,"  Political  Science  Quarterly,  Vol. 
XIII,  p.  232. 


138  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

in  France,  are  subject  to  a  central  audit  of  accounts,  the  English 
borough  is  not,  except  in  the  case  of  school  accounts;  although 
it  is  provided  that  after  the  local  audit  has  been  made  borough 
accounts  must  be  filed  within  a  month  with  the  Local  Government 
Board  at  London.  Somewhat  the  same  plan  is  adopted  in  Prus- 
sia with  regard  to  municipal  accounts  generally. 

The  central  control  which  had  been  distributed  among  various 
central  authorities  for  each  branch  of  administration  into  which 
the  central  control  has  been  introduced  was,  with  the  exception  of 

/  the  control  over  schools,  centralized  in  the  Local  Government 
Board  at  London  at  the  time  of  its  establishment  in  1871.  The 
Local  Government  Board  has  under  it  a  corps  of  officers,  in- 
spectors, auditors,  etc.,  who  supervise  the  administration  of  the 
localities. 

Administrative  Control  in  the  United  States.  The  failure  of 
legislative  control  in  the  United  States  has  caused  recourse  in  a 
number  of  instances  to  administrative  control.  Thus  in  the  state 

-  of  New  York  the  administration  of  the  civil  service  law  by  cities 
is  subjected  to  the  control  of  a  state  civil  service  commission 
which  has  the  power  to  disapprove  the  rules  of  the  municipal 
commissions.  In  a  number  of  states  the  finances  of  the  cities 
have  been  subjected  to  some  extent  to  state  control.8  In  a  large 
number  of  states  the  management  by  cities  of  schools  and  chari- 
table and  correctional  institutions  and  of  the  public  health  must 
be  conducted  in  accordance  with  rules  laid  down  by  state  ad- 
ministrative authorities,  such  as  state  boards  of  charities  and  of 
health,  state  boards  of  education  and  state  superintendents  of 
schools,  who  also  have  rights  of  inspection  and  supervision  of 
the  actions  of  city  officers.9  When  we  consider  this  movement 
in  the  direction  of  administrative  centralization  together  with 
the  constitutional  limitations  of  legislative  power  which  have 
been  described,  we  can  hardly  fail  to  reach  the  conclusion  that 
the  state  control  over  local  corporations  in  the  United  States  is 
being  changed  from  a  legislative  into  an  administrative  control. 
Comparison  of  Legislative  and  Administrative  Control.  The 

s  Orth,    "The    Decentralization    of    Administration    in   Ohio,"    Columbia 
University  Studies,  etc.,  Vol.  XVI,  p.  470. 
» Infra,  Chaps.  XII-XIV. 


STATE  CONTROL  OVER  CITIES  139 

success  of  any  system  of  state  control  over  cities  must  be  judged 
from  two  different  points  of  view,  viz.,  that  of  the  city  and  that 
of  the  state.  The  control  should  be  exercised  in  the  interest  of 
both  the  city  and  the  state.  It  should  be  exercised  in  the  interest 
of  the  city  in  that  it  should  permit  of  the  greatest  possible  local 
enterprise  and  initiative.  It  should  be  exercised  in  the  interest 
of  the  state  in  that  it  should  secure  proper  attention  by  the  city 
to  those  matters  which  interest  the  state  and  in  which  the  city 
is  acting  merely  as  the  agent  of  the  state  government.  A  system 
of  state  control  over  cities  which  does  not  bear  both  of  these 
things  in  mind  and  does  not  secure  both  local  enterprise  and 
efficiency  in  matters  affecting  the  state  as  a  whole  must  be  re- 
garded as  unsuccessful.  The  effects  of  administrative  control 
upon  the  local  interests  of  the  city  may  be  seen  by  a  some- 
what detailed  examination  of  the  facts  with  respect  to  the 
single  country,  England.  English  municipal  history  presents 
the  best  field  for  .study  since  here  is  found  an  example  of  a  coun- 
try which,  while  beginning  its  modern  municipal  development 
under  a  system  of  legislative  control  as  complete  as  that  now  in 
operation  in  the  United  States,  has  within  recent  years  built  up 
a  large  administrative  control  which,  though  not  impairing  the 
legislative  supremacy,  in  practice  largely  supersedes  the  older 
method. 

Effects  upon  Municipal  Activities.  Perhaps  no  better  account 
of  the  activities  of  British  municipalities  has  yet  been  written 
than  that  of  Dr.  Albert  Shaw  in  his  "Municipal  Government  in 
Great  Britain."  In  the  seventh  chapter  of  this  work  Dr.  Shaw 
treats  of  the  social  activities  of  British  towns.  In  it  he  refers 
to  the  "remarkable  period  of  awakening  and  improvement  in  the 
British  towns"  in  which  we  are  now  living.  He  calls  attention 
to  the  fact  that  the  larger  British  towns  have  very  generally 
since  1870  obtained  control  of  their  water  works  and  are  now 
providing  a  copious  supply  of  water  for  their  inhabitants.  He 
shows  that  nearly  one-fifth  of  the  aggregate  of  all  local  debts, 
namely  $200,000,000,  has  been  incurred  in  the  English  and  Welsh 
towns  for  this  purpose.  Attention  is  also  called  to  the  fact  that 
about  the  time  the  cities  entered  upon  the  policy  of  the  municipal 
ownership  of  water  works  they  began  the  municipalization  of  gas 


140  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

works.  In  some  of  the  cities,  particularly  the  cities  of  Scotland, 
"the  municipal  authorities  light  the  common  stairs  of  tenement 
houses  as  well  as  the  regular  streets,  and  it  is  probably  true  of 
Edinburgh,  Dundee  and  Aberdeen,  as  it  certainly  is  of  Glas- 
gow, that  the  common  stairs  and  courts  of  tenement  houses  are 
lighted  at  a  greater  cost  for  gas  and  wages  than  the  public 
streets."  The  English  municipalities  did  not  during  the  nine- 
teenth century  confine  their  attention  to  water  works  and  gas 
works,  but  at  the  present  time  almost  all  the  important  street 
railways  in  Great  Britain  are  owned  and  operated  by  the  munic- 
ipal or  other  local  authorities.  Since  1870,  further,  more  money 
has  been  expended  by  British  local  authorities  for  improvements 
that  may  be  grouped  under  the  words  harbors,  docks,  piers,  and 
quays,  than  for  anything  else  except  water  works.  No  British 
town  "which  has  not  provided  one  or  several  great  and  elabo- 
rately appointed  market  houses"  is  considered  progressive. 
While  at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  "the  majority 
of  British  industrial  towns  were  practically  without  any  parks, 
public  gardens  or  recreation  grounds  whatsoever"  and  "such  a 
thing  as  a  municipal  department  for  the  provision  and  ad- 
ministration of  public  playing  grounds  was  almost  unheard  of," 
at  the  present  time  "an  entire  change  has  come  about  and  every 
town  has  created  a  system  of  parks  and  gardens. ' '  Many  towns 
have  public  baths  and  wash  houses,  while  most  of  the  larger 
towns  and  many  of  the  smaller  ones  have  made  provision  for  pub- 
lic reference  and  lending  libraries  and  free  reading  rooms. 

Most  of  this  development  of  distinctively  municipal  functions 
has  taken  place  since  the  year  1870.  It  will  be  remembered  that 
the  year  1871  was  marked  by  the  establishment  of  the  present 
Local  Government  Board,  which  has  a  very  strong  central  ad- 
ministrative control  over  all  those  functions  which  the  cities  are 
discharging  as  urban  districts.  It  must,  therefore,  be  said  that 
from  the  viewpoint  of  municipal  development  and  local  enter- 
prise the  adoption  of  the  principles  of  central  administrative  con- 
trol, as  they  have  been  applied  in  England,  has  not  been 
accompanied  by  any  diminution  in  municipal  public  spirit,  but 
has  on  the  contrary  been  accompanied  by  a  great  increase  in  the 
development  of  the  sphere  of  municipal  activity. 


STATE  CONTROL  OVER  CITIES  141 

We  have  already  seen  that  the  theory  as  to  the  competence  of 
municipalities  in  Germany  accords  them  the  right  to  do  anything 
permitted  by  their  resources,  which  can  further  the  local  wel- 
fare of  their  inhabitants.  A  study  of  the  activities  of  particu- 
lar German  cities  will  show  that  the  German  city  in  actual 
practice  goes  far  towards  living  up  to  this  theory  of  the  sphere  of 
municipal  government.  It  is  of  course  true  that  the  assumption 
of  a  number  of  functions  by  German  municipalities  is  facilitated 
by  the  general  views  which  are  held  as  to  the  propriety  of  gov- 
ernmental action.  But  whatever  may  be  the  effect  of  such  views 
it  is  none  the  less  true  that  the  existence  of  the  kind  of  state  con- 
trol over  cities  which  has  been  described,  that  is,  the  central  ad- 
ministrative control,  has  not  had  the  result  of  limiting  seriously 
the  opportunity  for  municipal  development.  What  is  true  of 
England  is  just  as  true  of  Germany. 

Effects  of  Administrative  Control  on  General  Administrative 
Efficiency.  The  success  of  any  system  of  state  control  over  cities 
may  not,  however,  as  has  been  indicated,  be  judged  entirely  by 
the  success  which  it  has  had  in  permitting  the  development  of 
municipal  enterprise.  It  must  be  judged  also  from  the  view- 
point of  the  state  itself.  The  endeavor  must  be  made  to  see 
whether  the  interests  of  the  state  have  in  any  way  'been  neglected. 
When  we  come  to  consider  the  subject  in  this  light  we  find  it 
impossible  to  make  any  comparison  as  to  the  effectiveness  of  the 
state  control  in  the  case  of  any  of  the  countries  to  which  allusion 
has  been  made,  except  England.  For  in  both  France  and  Ger- 
many the  central  administrative  control  has  existed  from  time 
immemorial.  In  England,  however,  it  was  introduced,  as  has 
been  seen,  about  the  fourth  decade  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
It  was  introduced  not  in  the  interest  of  the  cities,  that  is,  not  in 
order  to  further  municipal  and  local  enterprise,  but  to  insure 
that  the  various  local  authorities  should  attend  efficiently  to 
those  matters  in  which  the  central  state  government  had  direct 
interest.  The  first  instance  of  its  introductionTwas  in  the  Poor 
Law  Amendment  Act  of  1834,  and  here  central  administrative 
control  was  adopted  in  order  to  do  away  with  the  evils  which  had 
accompanied  the  uncontrolled  local  administration  of  the  poor 
law.  It  worked  so  successfully  here  that  it  was  later  introduced 


142  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

into  the  public  health  administration,  and  with  the  gradual  ex- 
tension of  the  functions  which  are  regarded  as  embraced  within 
the  general  term  of  sanitary  functions,  was  finally  applied  to  most 
matters  which  are  regarded  at  the  present  time  as  municipal  in 
character.  We  are  able,  owing  to  the  character  of  the  statistics 
which  have  been  kept  in  England,  to  judge  of  the  effects  which 
the  change  in  the  methods  of  control  has  had  by  comparing 
statistics  with  regard  to  specific  matters  made  in  years  prior  to 
the  introduction  of  this  control  with  those  made  in  recent  times. 

Effects  on  Poor  Law  Administration.  Harriet  Martineau10 
says  of  the  conditions  existing  prior  to  the  adoption  of  the  Poor 
Law  Amendment  Act  of  1834 : ' '  The  poor  rate  had  become  public 
spoil.  The  ignorant  believed  it  an  inexhaustible  fund  which 
belonged  to  them.  To  obtain  their  share  the  brutal  bullied  the 
administrators;  ...  the  idle  folded  their  arms  and  waited  till 
they  got  it ;  ignorant  boys  and  girls  married  upon  it ;  poachers, 
thieves  and  prostitutes  extorted  it  by  intimidation7  county  jus- 
tices lavished  it  for  popularity  and  guardians  for  convenience. 
This  was  the  way  the  fund  went ;  as  for  whence  it  arose — it  came 
more  and  more  every  year  out  of  the  capital  of  the  shopkeeper 
and  the  farmer,  and  the  diminishing  resources  of  the  country 
gentleman.  The  shopkeeper 's  stock  and  returns  dwindled  as  the 
farmer's  land  deteriorated  and  the  gentleman's  expenditures 
contracted."  The  same  author  in  writing  of  the  conditions  ex- 
isting after  the  passage  of  the  Act  says,11  "  Before  two  years 
were  out  [that  is  after  1834]  wages  were  rising  and  rates  were 
falling  in  the  whole  series  of  country  parishes.  Farmers  were 
employing  more  laborers,  bullying  paupers  were  transformed 
into  steady  workingmen,  .  .  .  the  rates  which  had  risen  nearly  a 
million  in  their  annual  amount  during  the  five  years  before  the 
poor  law  commission  was  issued,  sank  down  in  the  course  of  five 
years  after  it  from  being  upwards  of  seven  millions  to  very  little 
above  four. ' ' 

The  great  progress  which  these  extracts  show,  was  due  in  large 

10  "History  of  the  Peace,"  Vol.  II,  p.  324,  cited  in  Maltbie's  chapter  on 
the  "Effects  of  the  Central  Administrative  Control  in  England,"  in  Good- 
now,  "Municipal  Problems,"  p.  111. 

11  Ibid.,  p.  333. 


STATE  CONTROL  OVER  CITIES  143 

part  to  the  introduction  of  a  central  administrative  control  over 
the  poor  law  administration.  It  was  maintained,  though  of 
course  not  to  the  same  degree,  during  the  entire  course  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  In  1849  the  paupers  per  thousand  of  the 
population  were  62.7  in  number ;  in  1894  they  were  26.5 ;  in  1866 
the  rate  per  pound  of  ratable  value  for  the  purpose  of  supporting 
the  poor  was  one  shilling  5.4  pence ;  in  1893  it  was  11.6  pence.12 

Effects  on  Public  Health  Administration.  Dr.  Maltbie  in  re- 
ferring to  the  progress  which  had  been  made  in  the  improvement 
of  sanitary  conditions  cites  an  article  from  the  Edinburgh  Re- 
view.13 Here  it  is  said :  "Out  of  fifty  towns  visited  on  behalf  of 
the  commissioners,  the  drainage  was  reported  as  bad  in  forty- 
three,  the  cleansing  in  forty-two,  the  water  supply  in  thirty-two. 
In  Liverpool  forty  thousand,  in  Manchester  fifteen  thousand  of 
the  working  class  lived  in  cellars,  'dark,  damp,  dirty  and  ill- 
ventilated.'  Nottingham  contained  eleven  thousand  houses  of 
which  eight  thousand  were  built  back  to  back  and  side  by  side,  so 
that  no  ventilation  was  possible.  .  .  .  Even  in  Birmingham,  then 
as  now  a  model  town,  the  water  supply  for  some  of  the  poorer 
districts  is  described  as  being  'as  green  as  a  leek.'  The  results 
of  this  state  of  things  were  clearly  seen.  Whilst  the  death  rate 
in  the  country  districts  was  18.2  per  thousand,  in  towns  it  was 
26.2 ;  in  Birmingham  and  Leeds  it  was  27.2 ;  in  Bristol,  30.9 ;  in 
Manchester,  33.7;  in  Liverpool,  34.8.  .  .  .  The  average  age  at 
death  in  Rutland  and  Wiltshire  was  thirty-six  and  one-half 
years  whilst  in  Leeds  it  was  twenty-one,  in  Manchester,  twenty, 
in  Liverpool,  seventeen."  These  statements  are  made  with  re- 
gard to  investigations  which  were  undertaken,  one  in  1843,  one  in 
1844  and  1845. 

The  result  of  these  investigations  was  the  introduction  of  cen- 
tral administrative  control  in  the  administration  of  public  health 
in  1848.  It  was  not,  however,  introduced  completely  until  1871. 
Dr.  Maltbie  says : 14  ' '  If  we  institute  a  comparison  between 
present  condition's  and  those  of  this  early  period  [that  is,  the 
period  prior  to  1848]  we  shall  find  a  marked  contrast  and  all  the 

12  Goodnow,  op.  cit.,  p.  115. 

is  Vol.  CLXXIII,  p.  69. 

i*  Goodnow,  "Municipal  Problems,"  p.  117. 


144  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

evidence  points  towards  more  rapid  progress  since  1871  than 
before.  Considering  the  death  rate,  which  although  it  is  not  an 
infallible  index  of  sanitary  conditions  may  be  taken  as  a  fairly 
accurate  standard  of  comparison  when  the  same  country  is  con- 
sidered and  decennial  periods  are  used,  it  is  found  that  the  aver- 
age death  rate  for  the  eleven  years  1838  to  1848  was  22.23  per 
mille;  from  1849  to  1872,  22.34;  and  from  1873  to  1893,  19.99; 
being  19.2  for  the  single  year  1893.  Or  to  state  it  more  vividly, 
if  the  death  rate  for  1893  had  been  the  same  as  that  from  1838 
to  1848  there  would  have  been  upwards  of  ninety  thousand  more 
deaths  during  that  year  than  there  really  were.  This  saving  of 
ninety  thousand  persons  annually  has  great  economic  impor- 
tance,'for  the  direct  effect  of  improved  sanitation  has  been  to 
increase  the  duration  of  life,  and  this  increment  has  come,  not  to 
the  very  old  or  to  the  very  young,  but  to  the  middle  aged  at  the 
time  when  personal  activity  is  at  or  near  its  height.  .  .  .  The 
decrease  [in  the  death  rate]  has  been  greater  in  urban  than  in 
rural  districts,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  former  have  been 
increasing  in  population  much  more  rapidly  than  the  latter,  and 
therefore  have  been  confronted  with  more  difficult  problems. 
The  decrease  of  the  death  rate  in  urban  districts  as  compared 
with  rural  districts  may  be  due  to  two  causes:  one  is  that  the 
urban  districts  have  more  generally  undertaken  work  of  sanitary 
improvement,  the  other,  which  may  be  partially  responsible  for 
the  former,  is  that  the  central  administrative  control  is  greater 
over  urban  than  it  is  over  rural  districts." 

Effects  on  Police  Administration.  About  the  middle  of  the 
nineteenth  century  the  conditions  with  regard  to  the  police 
forces  of  the  cities  and  their  activity  in  preserving  the  peace  were 
not  regarded  as  satisfactory.  The  central  government,  how- 
ever, did  not  feel  that  it  was  expedient  to  introduce  the  same 
sort  of  central  administrative  control  over  the  administration  of 
the  police  as  had  been  introduced  in  the  case  of  the  administra- 
tion of  the  poor  law  and  the  public  health.  The  method  adopted 
by  the  acts  passed  about  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century  was 
for  the  central  government  to  appropriate  a  certain  amount  of 
money  to  aid  the  various  localities,  particularly  the  cities,  in  the 
support  of  an  efficient  police  force.  This  aid  was  given,  how- 


STATE  CONTROL  OVER  CITIES  145 

ever,  only  on  a  certificate  of  efficiency  awarded  after  an  inspec- 
tion by  an  officer  of  the  central  government.  The  introduction 
of  this  central  control  over  the  police  force  was  not,  however, 
popular,  many  localities  preferring  to  maintain  their  police 
force  in  their  former  condition  rather  than  improve  them  and  re- 
ceive the  state  aid.  Thus,  in  1857  a  hundred  and  twenty  locali- 
ties received  no  aid.  Central  control,  however,  became  more 
popular,  for  in  1890  there  was  no  borough  which  did  not  receive 
aid.  These  figures,  as  Dr.  Maltbie  points  out,  are  of  little  value 
unless  it  is  proven  "that  the  standard  of  efficiency  which  a 
force  was  obliged  to  reach  to  receive  the  subsidy"  was  raised. 
This,  however,  has  been  the  case,  and  "no  locality  was  allowed  to 
content  itself  with  past  achievements,  but  was  obliged  to  make 
further  progress  or  lose  the  subsidy."  While  in  1856  there 
were  upon  an  average  1784  persons  to  one  policeman  the  num- 
ber had  decreased  in  1893  to  971;  that  is,  although  the  police 
forces  had  increased  168  per  cent  the  population  had  increased 
but  46  per  cent. 

Effects  on  School  Administration.  The  central  administrative 
control  in  England  has  been  introduced  into  the  school  system 
and  the  general  financial  administration  of  the  municipalities. 
Dr.  Maltbie 15  says  with  regard  to  the  school  administration : 
"The  most  significant  facts  are  the  great  increase  in  the  per 
capita  expenditure  for  each  scholar,  the  salaries  of  teachers  and 
the  accommodations  of  schools  and  average  attendance  of  pupils. 
One  should  not  fail  to  observe  that  the  accommodation  of  day 
schools  has  increased  at  a  much  more  rapid  rate  than  the  popula- 
tion, the  former  rate  being  over  two  and  one-quarter  times  the 
latter,  and  the  average  attendance  has  increased  at  a  still  more 
rapid  pace,  but  is  excelled  by  the  increase  in  the  number  of 
teachers.  These  indeed  are  important  signs,  for  a  progressive 
educational  system  should  exhibit  just  such  tendencies. ' ' 

Effects  on  Financial  Administration.  An  examination  of  the 
experience  of  English  municipalities  with  respect  to  finance,  and 
especially  with  respect  to  municipal  borrowing,  under  the  two 
forms  of  control  is  of  especial  value  since  direct  comparisons  can 
be  made.  Here  it  is  clearly  shown  that  the  tendency  of  legisla- 

is  Goodnow,  "Municipal  Problems,"  p.  128. 


146  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

tures  is  to  permit  localities  to  incur  debts  to  a  greater  extent  than 
is  proper.  When,  however,  the  exercise  of  the  borrowing  power 
is  subjected  to  a  central  administrative  control,  where  an  exami- 
nation of  an  impartial  character  is  made  of  the  conditions  of  the 
case,  it  is  much  more  likely  that  a  locality  will  be  prevented  from 
entering  into  an  improvident  transaction  in  borrowing  money. 

Conclusions  upon  this  point  are  well  stated  by  Dr.  Maltbie 
thus:  "Nearly  every  general  act  fixes  a  ratio  of  indebtedness 
which  may  be  incurred  for  the  purpose  enumerated  in  the  act, 
and  this  ratio  limits  not  only  the  local  authority  but  also  the 
amount  that  the  central  authority  may  approve  as  well.  Com- 
plete statistics  are  not  to  be  had,  but  if  one  compares  the  ratable 
value  of  all  England  with  the  local  indebtedness,  a  wide  margin 
is  found  between  the  actual  ratio  and  the  statutory  limits.  Re- 
membering that  over  one-half  is  due  to  local  acts,  where  no  ap- 
proval of  the  central  administrative  authority  has  been  required, 
one  is  easily  convinced  of  the  restrictive  tendency  of  the  plan. 
Statutory  limitations  have  been  of  little  value,  and  as  between 
the  two  the  central  administrative  control  has  exercised  by  far 
the  greater  restraining  influence.  The  custom  has  been  for 
localities  to  appeal  to  Parliament  for  power  to  do  what  they 
would  not  be  permitted  to  do  by  the  departments,  or  what  they 
thought  would  not  be  approved  should  an  application  be  made, 
with  the  result  .  .  .  that  more  indebtedness  has  been  incurred 
under  local  acts  than  under  sanction  of  the  Local  Government 
Board.  The  present  plan  of  requiring  these  acts  to  be  consid- 
ered and  reported  upon  by  some  central  department  is  gaining 
ground,  with  the  result  that  even  the  local  acts  are  conforming 
more  and  more  to  the  principles  laid  down  by  the  department  as 
to  approval  of  loans  and  that  they  deal  more  with  exceptional 
instances  than  with  questions  plainly  within  the  realm  of  the 
central  departments.  This  itself  is  a  result  brought  about  by  the 
Local  Government  Board  and  is  evidence  that  the  central  con- 
trol is  much  more  effective  when  exercised  by  an  administrative 
authority  than  when  exercised  by  the  legislature  through  the 
passage  of  special  legislation. ' ' 16 

I6  Goodnow,  "Municipal  Problems,"  p.  136. 


STATE  CONTROL  OVER  CITIES  147 

Conclusions  as  to  State  Control.  It  appears,  then,  that  in  the 
exercise  of  the  necessary  degree  of  control  which  the  state  should 
exert  over  municipalities  two  methods  have  been  made  use  of,  the 
legislative  and  the  administrative.  The  legislative  method,  par- 
ticularly characteristic  o^  the  United  States,  the  practical  work- 
ings of  which  hfr^been^pointed  out '  inthe  preceding  chapter, 
has  not  only  proved  ineffective,  but  has  led  to  positive  results  of 
an  undesirable  character.  On  the  other  hand  a  study  such  as  is 
made  in  the  present  chapter  of  the  effects  of  administrative  con- 
trol, when  compared  with  the  results  obtained  under  the  legisla- 
tive method  as  illustrated  in  the  United  States,  cannot  fail  to 
convince  one  that,  considered  from  the  viewpoint  both  of  munic- 
ipal development  and  of  state  interests,  administrative  is  far 
preferable  to  legislative  control. 

The  reasons  wKy^admlnTstrative  control  is  to  be  preferred  to 
legislative  control  are  clear  and  may  be  summed  up  as  follows: — 

ih  In  the  first  place,  the  legislature  must  in  the  nature  of  things 
be  a  partisan  political  body  and  the  control  which  is  exercised 
by  the  legislature  over  municipalities  is  likely  on  that  account 
to  be  influenced  by  partisan  political  considerations.  This  has 
certainly  been  the  case  in  the  United  States'  and  as  certainly  was 
the  case  in  England  in  the  period  prior  to  the  passage  of  the 
general  Municipal  Corporations  Act  of  1835.  While  legislative 
control  would  seem  thus  inevitably  to  be  exercised  more  or  less 
because  of  partisan  political  considerations,  administrative  con- 
trol is  not  necessarily  subjected  in  the  same  degree  to  these  influ- 
ences. Of  course  in  an  administrative  system  in  which  partisan 
politics  have  not  been  distinguished  as  clearly  as  they  should  be 
from  administration  it  is  true  that  even  the  administrative  con- 
trol may  in  many  instances  be  influenced  by  improper  political 
considerations.  But  it  is  perfectly  possible  by  a  proper  arrange- 
ment of  the  administrative  system  considerably  to  reduce  the  in- 
fluence of  political  considerations.  This  is  quite  impossible  in 
the  case  of  a  body  which  is  as  necessarily  political  in  character  as 
is  the  legislature. 

•;IJ$  The  second  advantage  which  administrative  control  possesses 
•    over  legislative  control  is  that  it  is  exercised  ordinarily  by  a  body 


148  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

of  a  more  or  less  permanent  character,  which  can,  if  proper  ap- 
pointments are  made,  be  a  more  or  less  expert  body.  In  any 
case  its  very  permanence  causes  it  eventually  to  possess  large 
expert  knowledge. 


THE  PARTICIPATION  OP  THE  PEOPLE  IN   CITY  GOVERNMENT 

REFERENCES  : 

The  Suffrage.  Goodnow,  F.  J.,  "Municipal  Problems,"  Chap.  VII. 
Munro,  W.  B.,  "Government  of  American  Cities,"  Chap.  V.  Munro,  W. 
B.,  "Government  of  European  Cities,"  pp.  18-23,  228-235.  Wilcox,  D.  S., 
"Study  of  City  Government,"  pp.  115-134. 

The  Short  Ballot.  Beard,  C.  A.,  "The  Ballot's  Burden,"  Political  Sci- 
ence Quarterly,  Vol.  XXIV,  pp.  589.  Childs,  R.  S.,  "Short  Ballot  Prin- 
ciples." Beard,  C.  A.,  "American  Government  and  Politics,"  pp.  469-487. 

Nominating  Methods.  Meyer,  E.  C.,  "Nominating  Systems,"  pp.  324- 
329,  387-396.  Merriam,  C.  E.,  "Primary  Elections,"  Chaps.  V,  VII,  VIII. 
Beard,  C.  A.,  "American  Government  and  Politics,"  685-703.  Munro,  W. 
B.,  "Government  of  American  Cities,"  pp.  125-139.  Ford,  H.  J.,  "The 
Direct  Primary,"  North  American  Review,  CXC  (1909),  pp.  1-14.  Hoi- 
combe,  A.  N.,  "State  Government  in  the  United  States,"  pp.  188-204. 
Paine,  R.  T,,  "Elimination  of  National  Party  Designations  from  Municipal 
Ballots,"  "Proceedings  of  the  National  Municipal  League,"  1909,  pp.  291. 
Ray,  P.  0.,  "Introduction  to  Political  Parties  and  Practical  Politics," 
Chaps.  IV,  V  and  VI. 

The  Initiative,  Referendum  and  Recall.  Munro,  W.  B.,  "Government  of 
American  Cities,"  Chap.  XIII.  Munro,  W.  B.,  "The  Initiative,  Referendum 
and  Recall,"  pp.  1-42,  233-297,  298-340.  Beard,  A.  C.,  and  Shultz,  B.  E., 
"Documents  on  State-wide  Initiative,  Referendum  and  Recall,"  pp.  1-69. 
Lowell,  A.  L.,  "Public  Opinion  and  Popular  Government,"  pp.  149-239. 
Commons,  J.  R.,  "Referendum  in  Municipal  Government,"  Political  Science 
Quarterly,  XVII  (1902),  pp.  609-630.  Paine,  R.  T.,  "The  Initiative,  Ref- 
erendum and  Recall  in  American  Cities,"  "Proceedings  of  the  National 
Municipal  League"  (1908),  pp.  223-246.  Montague,  R.  W.,  "Oregon  Sys- 
tem at  Work,"  National  Municipal  Review,  III  (1915),  pp.  256-283. 
Taylor,  C.  F.,  "Initiative,  Referendum  and  Recall  in  Practice,"  National 
Municipal  Review,  III  (1915),  pp.  673-701. 

Preferential  Voting  and  Proportional  Representation.  Meyer,  E.  C., 
"Nominating  Systems,"  pp.  464-472.  Commons,  J.  R.,  "Proportional  Rep- 
resentation." Hull,  R.  M.,  "Preferential  Voting  and  How  it  Works," 
National  Municipal  Review,  I  (1913),  pp.  386-400.  Johnson,  L.  J., 
"Preferential  Voting,"  National  Municipal  Review,  III  (1915),  pp.  83-92. 
Hoag,  C.  G.,  "Proportional  Representation,  Preferential  Voting  and  the 
Direct  Primary,"  National  Municipal  Review,  III  (1915),  p.  49.  Hatton, 

149 


150  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

A.  R.,  "The  Ashtabula  Plan,"  National  Municipal  Review,  V  (1916),  p.  56. 
Moley,  R.,  "Representation  in  Dayton  and  Ashtabula,"  National  Municipal 
Review,  VII  (1918),  p.  27. 

Voters'  Leagues.  Fox,  D.  R.,  "Voters'  Leagues  and  Their  Critical 
Work,"  National  Municipal  Review,  II,  pp.  664-671.  Scott,  F.  H.,  "Chi- 
cago Voters'  League,"  "Proceedings  of  the  National  Municipal  League" 
(1903). 

Control  of  Municipal  Organization.  As  the  first  great  problem 
of  municipal  government  is  the  establishment  of  the  proper  rela- 
tion between  the  city  and  the  state,  so  the  second  is  the  form  of 
organization  which  the  city  shall  take  for  the  most  satisfactory 
accomplishment  of  the  purposes  of  its  creation.  Prior  to  the 
time  when  the  city  was  subjected  to  the  control  of  the  state  the 
participation  which  should  be  accorded  the  people  of  the  city  in 
the  city  government,  and  the  organization  which  the  city  should 
have,  were  in  large  measure  matters  of  local  determination.  The 
solution  which  was  made  of  these  problems  in  particular  cities 
was  dependent  upon  the  population  conditions  of  those  cities. 
As  most  city  populations  have  always  been  commercial  or  in- 
dustrial in  character,  and  have  always  found  social  cooperation 
difficult  because  of  the  development  of  classes,  oligarchical  or 
despotic  government  has  generally  developed  of  such  a  character 
as  to  place  the  control  of  the  city  in  the  hands  of  the  more 
powerful  economic  classes.  In  some  cases  where  the  commercial 
or  industrial  character  of  the  city  was  most  marked,  as  for  ex- 
ample in  the  medieval  cities  dominated  by  merchant  or  craft 
guilds,  the  city  organization  was  almost  merged  in  the  general 
commercial  or  industrial  organization  of  the  community.  In 
these  cases  the  guilds  were  so  closely  connected  with  the  city 
organization  as  to  be  with  difficulty  distinguishable  therefrom. 

The  result  of  the  local  determination  of  the  degree  to  which 
the  people  of  the  city  should  participate  in  city  government  and 
of  the  form  to  be  given  to  its  political  organization,  has  been  thus 
the  denial  of  this  right  of  participation  to  all  but  the  more 
powerful  economic  classes,  and  the  adoption  of  an  organization 
through  which  those  classes  might  exploit  the  city  in  their  own 
interests. 

When  the  state  assumed  control  of  the  city  in  the  latter  part 


PARTICIPATION  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT        151 

of  the  eighteenth,  century,  the  tendency  of  city  populations  to 
fall  under  the  dominion  of  the  more  powerful  economic  classes 
seems  to  have  been  borne  in  mind  by  those  responsible  for  the 
new  legislation  which  regulated  the  relations  of  cities.  Every- 
where throughout  Europe  the  determination  of  the  extent  to 
which  the  people  of  the  city  should  in  the  future  participate  in 
the  city  government  and  of  the  organization  which  the  city 
should  have  was  made  by  the  state  for  the  city.  With  compara- 
tively few  exceptions  as  to  unimportant  details  this  is  the  law  at 
the  present  day.  The  most  important  exceptions  are  to  be  found 
in  Prussian  cities  which  by  local  ordinance  may,  within  the 
limits  of  the  state  law,  fix  the  property  qualifications  of  voters, 
and  in  those  cities  of  the  United  States  which  under  the  "home 
rule ' '  charter  plan  may  frame  their  own  charters  of  local  govern- 
ment. 

Municipal  Suffrage  a  Special  Problem.  Although  the  problems 
of  municipal  suffrage  and  municipal  organization  are  by  the 
law  of  the  present  day  for  the  most  part  state  rather  than  city 
problems,  in  the  sense  that  they  are  to  be  solved  as  a  result  of 
state  rather  than  city  action,  they  must  at  the  same  time  be 
solved  in  the  light  of  the  conditions  which  exist  in  cities.  The 
attempt  should  be  made  to  solve  them  in  such  a  way  as  to  per- 
mit of  the  fullest  satisfaction  of  the  needs  of  city  populations 
compatible  with  the  fulfillment  of  the  purposes  of  the  state  of 
which  the  city  is  a  part.  It  must,  however,  always  be  remem- 
bered that  citv  populations  ace  heterogeneous  in  character.  Jiable 
to  develop  powerful  socialclasses,  more  disposed  than  other 
populations  tg__criminal  actions,  and,  while  from  »  library  point, 
of  view  better  ^educated  than  other  populations^Jiave  an  im- 
reflective  temperament  Urban  popula- 
tions being  thus  different  from  rural  populations,  the  principles 
relative  to  suffrage  and  governmental  organization  which  are 
suited  to  rural  conditions  may  not  a  priori  be  regarded  as  suited 
to  urban  conditions. 

These  considerations  should  be  borne  in  mind  when  we  devote 
our  attention  to  the  first  subject  relating  to  city  organization, 
viz.,  the  participation  of  the  people  in  city  government. 

Municipal    Suffrage — Manhood    Qualification.     The  participa- 


152  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

tion  of  the  people  in  city  government,  which  has  been  distinctly 
extended  in  recent  years  through  the  widespread  introduction 
of  institutions  of  direct  government,  may  be  considered  under 
the  following  heads: — municipal  suffrage;  number  of  elective 
offices,  and  the  newer  agencies  of  direct  popular  action,  includ- 
ing the  recall,  the  initiative  and  referendum,  and  direct  nomina- 
tions. 

If  we  consider  the  first  of  these,  viz.,  the  municipal  suffrage, 
from  the  standpoint  of  the  relations  of  the  city  and  the  state 
government  we  find  that  two  main  views  have  been  entertained 
on  the  subject,  which  have  profoundly  influenced  the  decision 
any  particular  country  has  made  as  to  the  qualifications  of 
voters  at  city  elections. 

The  first  of  these  views  is  that  every  person  who  is  by  law 
qualified  to  participate  in  state  elections  should  be  and  is  quali- 
fied to  participate  in  city  elections.  Such  a  view  necessarily 
takes  no  account  of  the  peculiar  characteristics  of  urban  popu- 
lations, but  bases  the  right  to  participate  in  the  city  government 
on  the  theory  that  general  political  capacity  is  sufficient  to 
justify  the  grant  to  those  supposedly  possessing  such  capacity 
of  the  right  to  vote  at  city  elections.  This  view  of  municipal 
suffrage  is  generally  combined  with  the  view  that  general  polit- 
ical capacity  is  to  be  predicated  of  every  male  citizen  of  adult 
age  who  has  not  been  deprived  of  civil  rights.  In  other  words, 
the  countries  which  in  their  solution  of  the  problem  of  munic- 
ipal suffrage  make  little  or  no  allowance  for  the  peculiar  char- 
acteristics of  urban  populations  are  the  countries  which  have 
adopted  more  or  less  completely  the  principle  of  manhood  suf- 
frage. These  are  the  states  of  the  United  States,  France,  and 
Italy. 

Among  these  countries  there  is  to  be  observed  a  difference 
with  respect  to  the  qualification  of  residence.  In  the  states  of 
the  United  States  none  but  a  resident  of  the  city  may  vote  therein. 
In  France  and  Italy,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  conceived  that  a 
person  paying  taxes  in  a  city  may  acquire,  thereby,  an  interest 
in  it  which  may  even  overshadow  his  interest  in  his  place  of 
residence.  Hence  it  is  permitted  that  any  person  paying  direct 
taxes  in  a  city  may  cast  his  ballot  either  in  such  city  or  at  his 


PARTICIPATION  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT        153 

place  of  residence  as  he  shall  elect,  but  not  at  both  places. 

Some  of  the  states  of  the  United  States  also  require  that  all 
voters  shall  be  able  to  read  and  write,  but  such  qualifications 
have  very  little  effect  in  reducing  the  suffrage  below  a  universal 
manhood  standard.1  In  Italy  where  similar  requirements  were 
formerly  in  force  they  excluded  a  large  proportion  of  the  popula- 
tion from  the  right  to  vote. 

Municipal  Suffrage — Property  Qualifications.  The  other  view 
which  has  influenced  the  determination  of  this  question  of  mu- 
nicipal suffrage  is  that  the  persons  who  are  qualified  to  vote  at 
city  elections  are  only  those  who,  regardless  of  their  qualifica- 
tions of  general  political  capacity,  have  a  stake  of  a  more  or 
less  permanent  character  in  the  city  which  their  vote  affects. 
The  countries  which  take  this  view  of  the  matter  are  also  coun- 
tries which  have  not  adopted  universal  manhood  suffrage  for 
state  elections,  but  adhere  more  or  less  completely  to  the  view 
that  property  rather  than  man,  or  as  well  as  man,  is  to  be 
represented.  They  therefore  either  grant  the  right  to  vote  only 
to  persons  possessing  some  sort  of  a  property  qualification, 
evidenced  by  the  ownership  of  property  or  the  payment  of  taxes, 
or  give  to  the  man  who  possesses  a  certain  amount  of  property 
a  vote  of  greater  power  than  that  granted  to  a  man  who  has 
less  property  or  no  property  at  all.  Countries  which  belong 
to  this  class  are  Great  Britain  and  Germany. 

In  England  the  municipal  suffrage  is  conferred  upon  every 
male  and  unmarried  female  British  subject  of  full  age  who, 
having  been  for  the  last  twelve  months  preceding  July  15  a 
resident  of  the  city  or  within  seven  miles  thereof,  has  (1)  occu- 
pied jointly  or  severally  for  the  whole  of  such  period  of  twelve 
months  any  house  or  other  building  in  the  city;  (2)  been  rated 
(taxed)  in  respect  of  such  property  for  all  rates  (taxes)  levied 
during  the  same  twelve  months;  (3)  paid,  before  July  twentieth 
all  rates  levied  up  to  the  fifth  of  the  January  next  preceding, 
and  (4)  has  not  within  twelve  months  received  charitable  relief. 

The  law  is  interpreted  so  as  to  qualify  as  voters  those  who 
occupy  a  separate  part  of  the  house,  even  one  room,  but  not 
those  merely  living  in  the  house  as  a  part  of  the  family,  such 

iHatton,  "Digest  of  City  Charters,"  p.  49. 


154  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

as  a  servant  or  child  of  the  occupier,  and  to  permit  a  person, 
otherwise  qualified,  to  vote  where  some  other  person  has  paid 
the  rates.  It  is,  as  a  result,  a  common  practice  for  landlords 
to  pay  the  rates  of  the  smaller  tenants  and  reimburse  them- 
selves by  an  increase  in  the  rent. 

In  Prussia,  which  may  be  taken  as  being  typical  of  Germany, 
the  municipal  franchise  prior  to  the  changes  brought  about 
by  the  Great  War,  was  granted  to  all  German  male  citizens 
twenty-four  years  of  age,  householders  (i.e.,  those  who  occupied  a 
separate  room  in  a  house),  in  possession  of  civil  rights,  who 
during  a  year  had  resided  in  the  city,  paid  all  taxes  due  from 
them,  and  had  the  necessary  property  qualification,  viz.,  owned 
or  occupied  a  house,  or  pursued  independently  a  stationary 
trade,  or  paid  a  tax,  or  had  an  income  of  a  certain  specified 
amount.  This  property  qualification  varied  in  different  cities. 
The  three-class  system  of  voting  which  has  prevailed  in  Prussia 
served  as  a  further  serious  and  grossly  unequal  property  re- 
striction upon  the  franchise.2 

Municipal  Suffrage — Period  of  Eesidence.  Both  these  methods 
of  defining  the  qualifications  for  municipal  suffrage  are  accom- 
panied by  a  provision  of  law  which  requires  the  possession  by 
the  would-be  voter  of  the  requisite  qualification,  be  it  residence, 
the  ownership  or  occupation  of  property  or  the  payment  of  a 
tax,  for  a  definite  period  before  the  vote  is  cast.  The  length 
of  this  period  varies  widely  and  has  an  important  influence 
on  the  number  and  character  of  the  persons  who  vote.  Thus 
in  Italy  qualified  voters  except  those  qualifying  by  reason  of 
paying  taxes  in  the  city  must  have  resided  in  the  city  a  year. 
The  election  lists  are  begun  January  first  and  completed  and 
published  on  the  fifteenth  of  March.  The  elections  take  place 
after  the  spring  session  of  the  city  council,  but  not  later  than 
the  month  of  July.  The  period  of  residence  required  of  voters 
not  tax-payers  is  thus  actually  a  very  long  one,  being  nearly 
eighteen  months. 

In  England  the  period  of  residence  required  is  twelve  months 
preceding  July  fifteenth.  Since  the  election  list  is  not  made 

2  Brooks,  "The  Three  Class  System  in  Prussian  Cities,"  "Municipal  Af- 
fairs," Vol.  II. 


PARTICIPATION  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT        155 

up  until  October  first  and  the  election  is  not  held  until  Novem- 
ber first,  the  actual  period  of  residence  is  extended  to  more 
than  fifteen  months. 

In  Prussia  the  required  year  of  residence  must  precede  the 
preparation  of  the  voting  list  in  July,  but  as  the  election  ordi- 
narily took  place  in  November  following,  the  qualifying  period 
was,  as  in  England,  fully  fifteen  months. 

In  France  those  persons  otherwise  qualified,  and  not  qualified 
by  reason  of  paying  taxes  in  the  city,  must  either  have  their 
domicile  in  the  city  or  have  resided  therein  for  a  period  of  six 
months  before  the  time  for  making  up  the  election  lists.  As 
the  municipal  elections  regularly  occur  on  the  first  Sunday  in 
May  and  the  lists  are  completed  about  February  first,  the  actual 
period  of  residence  is  about  nine  months. 

In  the  United  States,  however,  the  period  of  residence  is 
usually  a  short  one.  Thus,  in  New  York,  for  example,  every 
citizen  twenty-one  years  of  age  who  has  been  a  citizen  for 
ninety  days  and  an  inhabitant  of  the  state  one  year  next  pre- 
ceding the  election,  and  for  the  last  four  months  a  resident 
of  the  county,  and  for  the  last  thirty  days  a  resident  of  the 
election  district  in  which  he  may  offer  his  vote,  is  entitled  to  vote 
in  such  election  district  and  not  elsewhere,  for  all  officers  elected 
by  the  people  and  upon  all  questions  which  are  submitted  to 
the  vote  of  the  people.  As  the  date  from  which  the  period  of 
residence  is  counted  in  the  United  States  is  usually  the  date  of 
the  election,  the  period  of  residence  required  by  the  constitution 
cannot  be  extended  by  adding  to  it  the  period  intervening  be- 
tween the  making  of  the  election  list  and  the  date  of  the  election. 
In  some  states  the  period  of  residence  required  is  even  shorter. 
Thus  in  Michigan  by  the  constitution  in  force  in  1889  persons 
otherwise  qualified  could  vote  after  a  residence  in  the  state  of 
three  months  and  in  the  city  of  ten  days.3  On  the  other  hand, 
in  a  few  states  the  period  of  residence  required  is  distinctly 
longer.  In  Louisiana  the  voter  must  have  been  a  resident  of 
the  State  for  two  years,  and  of  the  parish  (county)  one  year. 

UTumber  of  Municipal  Voters.  It  is  difficult  to  ascertain  what 
effect  is  exerted  on  the  actual  number  of  voters  by  such  pro- 

a  Attorney  General  v.  Common.  Council,  78  Midi.,  p.  545. 


156  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

visions  as  to  property  qualifications  and  residence.  In  England, 
however,  it  is  said  that  from  25  to  40  per  cent  of  the  adult  male 
population  are  legally  not  entitled  to  vote.  The  number  actually 
voting  is  less  than  the  number  legally  entitled  to  vote,  owing 
to  the  fact  that  the  poorer  voters  do  not  pay  their  rates  or  do 
not  receive  credit  for  so  paying  them  where  they  are  paid  by 
the  landlords,  and  thus  do  not  get  their  names  on  the  election  lists. 

If  we  compare  conditions  in  New  York  and  London  we  find 
that  the  registration  list  in  the  former  contains  about  16  per 
cent  of  the  population;  in  the  latter,  about  12  per  cent.  The 
New  York  registration  list  would  on  the  London  basis  have  been 
in  1906  about  480,000  instead  of  660,000.  In  other  words, 
more  than  25  per  cent  of  the  present  voters  in  New  York  would 
be  disqualified  if  the  conditions  of  suffrage  in  New  York  were 
the  same  as  in  London.  This  calculation  makes  no  allowance 
for  the  female  vote,  which  is  usually  about  10  per  cent  of  the 
male  vote. 

The  classes  actually  prevented  from  voting  in  city  elections 
in  England  by  the  conditions  of  suffrage  are  the  confirmed 
pauper,  semi-criminal  and  criminal  classes,  the  poorer  paid 
working  men  in  times  of  industrial  depression,  sons  living  with 
fathers  or  mothers,  who  are  rate-payers,  and  a  number  of  the 
smaller  householders.  Whatever  other  persons  are  excluded, 
who  are  probably  not  many,  the  most  unintelligent  portion  of 
those-  who  would  vote  in  this  country  and  the  great  mass  of  the 
purchasable  vote  are  without  doubt  prevented  from  voting  at 
city  elections  in  England. 

In  France,  however,  the  number  of  electors,  notwithstanding 
the  long  period  of  residence  required,  is  a  large  one.  Thus 
there  are  in  Paris  with  a  population  of  less  than  three  millions, 
six  hundred  thousand  electors.  The  large  number  is  probably 
due  to  the  fact  that  the  registration  is  official  and  not  personal. 

In  Italy  as  recently  as  1911  the  requirement  of  a  literary 
qualification  reduced  the  number  of  voters  to  about  11  per  cent 
of  the  population,  but  by  the  removal  of  that  test  in  1913 
the  number  was  increased  to  include  more  than  26  per  cent  of 
the  population.4 

*  "Statesman's  Yearbook,  1917." 


PARTICIPATION  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT         157 

In  Prussia  the  property  qualification  and  the  long  term  of 
residence,  taken  in  connection  with  the  three-class  system  of 
voting  has  had  an  important  effect  on  both  the  number  of  voters 
and  the  economic  classes  in,  which  the  preponderance  of  power 
is  located.  The  fundamental  idea  at  the  basis  of  this  system 
is  that  the  voters  are  divided  into  three  classes,  the  first  class 
consisting  of  the  persons  paying  the  highest  taxes,  who  pay 
one-third  of  the  taxes,  the  second  class,  of  those  paying  the  next 
highest  taxes,  who  pay  another  third  of  the  taxes,  the  third 
class,  of  the  rest  of  the  voters.  Each  of  these  classes  was  given 
equal  representation  upon  the  council. 

Conclusions  as  to  Municipal  Suffrage.  If  we  consider  the  actual 
participation  of  the  people  in  municipal  elections  in  the  coun- 
tries whose  laws  we  have  examined  we  find  that  the  United 
States__is  Jhe.  only  country  which  has  adopted  the  plan  of  giving 
to  every  state  voter  resident  in  the  .cityvand  to  him  alone,  the 
right  to  vote~~at  city  elections.  France  and  Italy,  which  in 
principle  give  the  vote  at  city  elections  to  all  state  voters  resi- 
dent in  the  city,  extend  the  right  as  well  to  persons  who  have 
a  stake  in  the  city,  though  they  do  not  reside  therein.  The 
states  of  the  United  States  further,  by  the  ordinarily  short  term 
of  residence  required  for  qualification,  do  not  attempt  to  con- 
fine the  vote  to  those  state  voters  who  are  really  permanently 
identified  with  the  city,  as  do  both  France  and  Italy. 

By  not  providing  for  either  property  or  educational  qualifica- 
tion, and  by  requiring  merely  a  short  term  of  residence,  the 
United  States  city  election  laws  thus  generally  bring  it  about 
that  the  number  of  voters  at  city  elections  is  from  eight  to  fifty 
per  cent  greater  than  elsewhere.  Moreover,  the  fact  that  these 
laws  do  not  accord  the  vote  to  non-resident  taxpayers  prevents 
the  exercise  of  a  possible  conservative  influence  on  city  elections. 

The  fundamental  differences  between  the  election  laws  of  this 
country  and  those  of  other  countries  make  the  problem  of  Amer- 
ican city  government  quite  a  different  one  from  what  it  is  in 
any  one  of  the  other  countries  to  which  reference  has  been  made. 

Although  the  conditions  of  population  in  American  cities  are 
such  that  the  voters  are  much  more  heterogeneous  than  they 
are  elsewhere,  or  even  than  they  once  were  in  the  United  States, 


158  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

our  election  laws  give  no  consideration  to  that  fact,  but  confer 
the  city  suffrage  on  vast  numbers  of  people  who  cannot  be  said 
to  have  a  permanent  stake  in  the  city,  who  indeed,  in  many 
cases,  may  not  be  bona  fide  residents  of  the  city,  and  may  not 
have  sufficient  political  capacity,  because  of  lack  of  the  power 
to  read  or  because  of  previous  associations,  to  cast  a  vote  in- 
telligently. The  whole  problem  of  city  suffrage  in  the  United 
States  would  seem,  if  we  compare  it  with  conditions  in  other 
countries,  to  have  been  solved  without  due  consideration  of  the 
characteristics  of  urban  population. 

This  failure  to  give  consideration  to  the  peculiarities  of  urban 
populations  is  probably  due  partly  to  an  adherence  to  that  ab- 
stract theory  of  political  equality  which  swept  away  property 
qualifications  generally,  and  partly  to  the  fact  that  the  suffrage 
laws  were  framed  at  a  time  when  cities  were  comparatively  small 
and  when  populations  were  still  quite  homogeneous.  The  re- 
markable changes  which  have  taken  place  in  these  respects  within 
the  last  seventy-five  years  have,  however,  apart  from  a  few  of 
the  southern  states,  had  no  effect  in  causing  a  reconsideration 
of  the  determination  made  so  many  years  ago. 

"While  the  failure  to  consider  the  peculiar  conditions  existing 
in  cities  unquestionably  makes  city  government  in  the  United 
States  difficult,  the  position  assigned  to  the  city  in  the  law  is 
such  as  to  justify,  from  one  point  of  view  at  any  rate,  the 
attitude  which  has  been  taken.  The  city,  according  to  the  law 
of  the  United  States,  is  an  important  agent  of  the  state  gov- 
ernment and  as  such  acts  independently  of  almost  any  effective 
state  control.  Under  these  conditions  conflicts  are  likely  to 
arise  between  the  state  which  adopts  a  policy  and  the  city  which 
executes  that  policy,  if  by  any  chance  that  policy  is  not  popular 
in  the  city.  In  such  a  case  a  city  which  has  the  uncontrolled 
execution  of  the  state  policy  may  take  advantage  of  its  powers 
of  execution,  or  non-execution — for  that  is  what  its  powers  are 
where  it  occupies  an  independent  position  in  the  state  govern- 
ment,— to  neglect  or  refuse  to  enforce  the  state  law.  If  for 
example  the  state  whose  suffrage  is  universal  adopts  a  policy 
with  regard  to  city  sanitation  or  the  housing  of  city  people 
based  on  sanitary  considerations,  and  entrusts  the  execution  of 


PARTICIPATION  IN  CITY  GOVEENMENT         159 

that  policy  to  a  city  in  which  the  electorate  is  composed  of  the 
landholding  classes,  there  is  great  danger  that  the  state  policy 
will  be  nullified  by  local  action.  Of  course  the  identity  of  state 
and  city  suffrage  will  not  ensure  harmonious  relations  between 
state  and  city  since  the  economic  interests  of  state  and  city  are 
not  always  or  even  usually  the  same;  but  where  state  and  city 
suffrage  are  the  same  there  is  less  liability  for  such  conflict 
between  state  and  city  than  there  is  where  state  and  city  suf- 
frage are  different.  It  is  therefore,  from  this  point  of  view, 
quite  right  and  proper  that,  in  the  United  States,  where  cities 
are  important  state  agents  and  are  not  subject  to  an  effective 
state  control,  the  suffrage  for  city  matters  should  be  the  same 
as  for  state  matters. 

Number  of  Elective  Officers.  The  degree  in  which  the  people 
participate  in  city  government  is  dependent,  in  the  second  place, 
on  the  number  of  the  officers  who  are  elected.  In  this  respect 
the  states  of  the  United  States  differ  from  most  other  countries. 
In  foreign  countries  the  only  city  officers  of  any  importance  who 
are  elected  are  the  members  of  the  council.  The  sole  exception 
to  this  rule  is  that  in  England  the  rate-payers  elect  in  addition 
to  the  members  of  the  council,  two  auditors  of  borough  accounts 
and  two  revising  assessors  for  elections.  All  the  other  city 
officers  in  Europe  are  appointed  by  the  council  or  by  the  state 
government.  In  most  of  the  cities  of  the  United  States,  however, 
the  people  elect  in  addition  to  council  members,  mayors,  school 
officers,  the  chief  financial  officers,  and  in  many  cases  quite  a 
long  list  of  other  less  important  officers.5 

The  provision  for  so  many  elective  city  officers  in  the  United 
States  is  not,  it  is  believed,  due  to  an  intelligent  or  even  conscious 
belief  that  the  elective  method  is  proper  for  urban  conditions, 
.but  rather  to  a  general  feeling  that  under  all  conditions  the 
people  may  be  intrusted  with  the  choice  of  their  officers.  In 
most  of  the  rural  areas  of  the  United  States  many  of  the  officers 
were  from  the  beginning  chosen  by  the  electors.  The  abuse 
of  the  appointing  power,  by  which  most  of  the  offices  in  the 
national,  state  and  municipal  governments  were  originally  filled, 

s  See  list  of  elective  officers  in  the  United  States,  Hatton,  "Digest  of 
City  Charters,"  p.  56. 


160  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

caused  the  conditions  of  the  smaller  local  areas  to  be  compared 
to  their  great  advantage  with  the  conditions  existing  in  the 
state  and  national  governments.  The  general  conclusion  was 
reached  about  the  year  1830  in  the  United  States  that  appoint- 
ment was  not  as  good  a  way  of  filling  offices  as  election  by  the 
people.  The  result  was  that  about  the  middle  of  the  century 
the  elective  principle  was  generally  introduced  into  our  govern- 
mental system,  in  the  cities  as  well  as  in  the  open  country. 

The  experience  of  the  people  under  the  elective  system  was 
not  a  happy  one.  The  results  were  even  worse  than  under 
the  appointive  system.  This  seems  to  have  been  almost  inevita- 
ble. The  cause  of  the  abuse  of  the  appointing  power  was  the 
necessity  of  building  up  the  great  political  parties  which  sprang 
up  in  the  United  States  during  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  The  need  of  maintaining  these  parties  in  power  was 
no  less  after  the  adoption  of  the  elective  system  than  it  had 
been  before.  The  cause  of  the  trouble  not  having  been  removed, 
the  trouble  continued,  and  the  parties  adapted  themselves  to 
the  changed  conditions  and  were  able  through  their  control  over 
the  elections  to  perpetuate  and  even  aggravate  the  evils  com- 
plained of. 

It  was  very  generally  believed  that  the  political  capacity  of  the 
native  American  was  high  and  that  this  had  been  amply  demon- 
strated in  the  success  attending  the  national,  and  perhaps  in 
less  degree,  the  state  governments.  Writers  on  American  city 
government  were  accustomed  to  account  for  the  failure  of  popu- 
lar government  in  the  cities  by  the  presence  therein  of  so  many 
voters  of  foreign  birth  who  had  been  admitted  to  participation 
in  municipal  affairs  before  they  had  familiarized  themselves 
with  our  ways  of  thinking  and  acting,  before,  in  other  words, 
they  had  become  assimilated.  This  being  thought  to  be  the 
cause  of  our  failure,  the  municipal  population,  or  at  least  the 
most  intelligent  portion  thereof,  were  willing,  as  are  the  people 
in  some  of  the  southern  states  at  the  present  time,  where  there 
is  a  large  ignorant  negro  population,  to  surrender  their  political 
privileges.  They  hoped  by  the  surrender  to  get  good  govern- 
ment, caring  little  if  only  the  government  proved  good,  what 
might  be  the  method  by  which  it  was  obtained. 


PARTICIPATION  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT        161 

Trial  of  State  Centralization.  The  foregoing  considerations  led 
in  many  places,  particularly  in  the  large  cities,  to  a  more  or 
less  complete  abandonment  of  the  idea  of  popular  government 
and  a  resort  to  a  considerable  degree  of  centralization  under 
the  state.  It  was  hoped  that  in  the  state  at  large  might  be  found 
a  more  enlightened  opinion  than  had  been  displayed  in  the 
cities.  This  state  control  took  the  form  of  the  appointment  by 
some  state  authority  of  the  heads  of  city  administrative  depart- 
ments. No  provision  was  made  however  for  any  real  control 
by  the  state  over  these  appointees  when  once  selected.  This 
radical  departure  from  the  accepted  canons  of  local  self-govern- 
ment did  not  become  popular  and  the  popular  election  of  a 
large  number  of  city  officers  continued  to  be  the  general  prac- 
tice throughout  the  United  States. 

Weakness  of  the  "Long  Ballot."  It  has  become  plain  that  an 
extensive  use  of  the  elective  system,  i.e.,  the  "long  ballot,"  has 
tended  to  increase  rather  than  remove  some  of  the  most  serious 
evils  in  city  government;  indeed  it  has  been  demonstrated  that 
the  system  is  absolutely  inapplicable  to  the  larger  cities.  The 
conditions  existing  in  such  large  centers  are  quite  different  from 
those  which  exist  in  the  rural  districts  where  the  elective  prin- 
ciple had  first  been  tried  and  where  it  had  undoubtedly  been 
successful,  both  in  expressing  the  popular  will  and  in  securing 
reasonably  efficient  administration. 

The  differences  in  conditions  between  urban  and  rural  areas 
affecting  this  problem  are  in  the  main  three.  In  the  first  place, 
in  the  rural  districts  the  feeling  of  neighborhood  is  strong,  ow- 
ing to  the  more  permanent  character  of  the  population.  The 
people  knowing  personally  most  of  the  candidates  who  present 
themselves  for  office  are  in  a  position  to  make  a  wise  choice.  In 
the  cities,  on  the  other  hand,  the  feeling  of  neighborhood  is  not 
strong.  It  is  therefore  difficult  if  not  impossible  for  the  people 
in  cities  to  know  much  about  the  merits  of  any  large  number 
of  candidates. 

In  cities,  further,  offices  are  much  more  numerous  than  they 
are  in  the  rural  districts,  and  if  a  great  number  of  offices  are 
to  be  filled,  many  of  which  are  subordinate  and  comparatively 
unimportant,  even  the  most  intelligent  elector  is  liable  to  become 


162  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

confused  and  is  therefore  likely  to  rely  upon  the  party  with 
which  he  acts  in  state  or  national  issues,  regardless  of  the  fact 
that  the  officer  for  whom  he  may  be  voting  has  no  duties  which 
exercise  any  important  influence  on  the  issues  of  state  and 
national  politics.  In  this  way  the  control  of  the  party  over 
the  city  is  rather  increased  than  decreased  by  the  adoption  of 
the  elective  method.  The  popular  control  which  it  is  desired 
to  secure  by  its  adoption  is  made  illusory  where  many  officials 
are  to  be  elected  and  where  the  constituency  is  a  large  one. 

Finally,  the  administration  of  a  city  is  more  complex  than  that 
of  a  rural  district.  The  presence  of  a  vast  number  of  people 
in  a  small  section  of  itself  presents  problems  which  require  for 
their  solution  a  large  amount  of  technical  knowledge  and  skill. 
The  rural  highway  becomes  a  city  street  which  must  not  only 
sustain  an  immense  amount  of  surface  traffic  to  which  the  rural 
highway  is  not  subjected,  but  must  serve  as  a  means  of  conveying 
under  its  surface  gas,  water,  electricity  and  sewage.  The  care 
of  the  public  health  which  in  the  rural  districts  is  a  compara- 
tively simple  matter  becomes,  in  the  city,  a  difficult  one.  In  the 
country  unobstructed  light  and  free  circulation  of  air  may  be 
trusted  to  act  as  preventives  of  most  diseases,  but  in  the  city, 
greater  care  must  be  taken  to  prevent  the  existence  of  unsani- 
tary conditions,  and  more  energetic  measures  must  be  taken  to 
stamp  out  contagious  diseases  because  of  their  greater  liability 
to  spread  if  once  allowed  to  get  a  foothold. 

Not  only  do  branches  of  administration  for  which  there  is 
some  provision  in  the  rural  districts  become  more  complicated 
in  the  cities,  but  also  many  matters  which  can  in  the  country 
be  left  entirely  to  private  initiative  become  in  the  cities  the  sub- 
jects of  governmental  action.  In  attending  to  some  of  these 
the  highest  amount  of  technical  skill  is  required,  and  in  attend- 
ing to  all  of  them  harmony  in  administrative  action  and  con- 
tinuity in  administrative  policy  are  absolutely  indispensable  if 
advantageous  results  are  to  be  expected.  The  elective  method 
is  not  the  proper  one  for  securing  the  necessary  technical  skill 
since  evidences  of  technical  skill  are  not  calculated  to  secure 
votes.  Neither  is  the  elective  method  the  proper  one  to  secure 
administrative  harmony  and  continuity,  for  the  ejection  of  many 


PARTICIPATION  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT        163 

officers  who  are  not  subject  to  any  common  control  produces  an 
unconcentrated  government  in  which  harmony  is  almost  im- 
possible of  attainment,  while  the  short  terms  which  are  usually 
connected  with  elective  office  make  continuity  of  administrative 
policy  difficult. 

The  Short  Ballot.  The  futility  of  reliance  solely  upon  the 
elective  system  to  secure  efficient  and  responsible  city  govern- 
ment has  been  clearly  demonstrated  by  experience.  The  under- 
lying cause  of  the  failure  of  the  system  when  widely  applied  is 
the  fact  that  it  is  absolutely  impossible  for  any  considerable 
number  of  voters  to  exercise  any  discrimination  among  candi- 
dates for  a  large  number  of  offices.  Since  the  ballot  is  the  only 
instrument  by  which  the  voter  may  exercise  discrimination  in 
the  selection  of  officers  or  control  over  their  acts,  it  is  essential 
that  this  instrument  be  made  wieldy.  The  means  taken  to  ac- 
complish this  has  been  to  reduce  the  offices  to  be  filled  by  election 
to  so  small  a  number  and  to  restrict  them  to  those  of  such  promi- 
nence that  the  voter  can  exercise  real  discrimination  in  choice 
and  intelligence  in  judgment  with  respect  to  those  entrusted 
with  authority.  Under  this  plan  the  selection  of  minor  officers 
and  those  in  whom  technical  skill  and  specialized  knowledge 
are  essential  is  left  to  those  elected  at  the  polls  who  are  in  a 
position  to  exercise  an  intelligent  choice  and  in  whom  respon- 
sibility for  such  choice  is  centralized.  The  federal,  the  com- 
mission and  the  manager  plans  of  organization  embody  these 
ideas.  While  by  no  means  insuring  in  all  cases  wisdom  of  choice 
or  soundness  of  judgment  as  its  practical  application  discloses, 
the  soundness  of  the  "short  ballot"  principle  has  been  estab- 
lished. 

The  Recall.  Complementary  to  the  right  of  electing  city  offi- 
cers is  the  right  given  to  the  voters  of  certain  cities  to  remove 
public  officials  before  the  expiration  of  their  terms  of  office. 
This  modern  adaptation  of  an  ancient  practice  under  the  name 
of  the  recall  found  its  American  origin  in  Los  Angeles  in  1903 
and  has  since  been  adopted  in  a  large  number  of  cities,  par- 
ticularly those  under  the  commission  form  of  government.  The 
usual  method  of  its  operation  is  that  whenever  any  group  of  citi- 
zens disapproves  of  the  policy  of  an  officer  or  believes  that  he  is 


164  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

inefficient  or  culpable,  they  may  originate  a  petition  setting  forth 
the  grounds  of  their  dissatisfaction  and  asking  that  an  election 
be  held  to  determine  whether  the  official  in  question  shall  be 
removed  from  office  and  another  elected  in  his  stead.  "When 
the  prescribed  number  of  signatures,  varying  in  size  from  fifteen 
to  thirty-five  per  cent  of  the  number  of  votes  cast  for  the  office 
at  the  last  election,  is  secured  and  the  petition  properly  filed  with 
a  designated  authority  an  election  is  called  to  fill  the  position 
in  question.  Nominations  are  usually  made  by  petition  but  it 
is  commonly  provided  that  the  name  of  the  person  sought  to 
be  removed  shall  be  placed  upon  the  ballot  without  petition 
unless  he  expresses  a  wish  to  the  contrary.  If  the  officer  whose 
conduct  has  been  unsatisfactory  wins  at  the  election  his  victory 
amounts  to  a  vote  of  confidence  from  his  constituency,  otherwise 
he  is  recalled  and  his  competitor  securing  the  highest  number 
of  votes  succeeds  to  the  office  for  the  unexpired  term.  To  pre- 
vent the  abuse  of  the  recall  privilege  it  is  usually  stipulated 
that  no  more  than  one  petition  shall  be  filed  against  any  officer 
during  his  term  of  office  or  at  least  in  any  one  year. 

As  an  instrument  of  popular  control  the  recall  has  been  most 
widely  adopted  in  cities  which  are  under  the  commission  form 
of  government,  where  wide  powers  both  of  legislation  and  of 
administration  have  been  vested  in  a  small  body  of  men.  While 
the  recall  serves  as  a  powerful  deterrent  and  corrective  agent 
the  remedy  is  somewhat  heroic.  The  danger  is  that  by  it  the 
community  is  thrown  back  toward  those  conditions  which  the 
substitution  of  appointment  for  election  of  administrative  and 
judicial  officers  was  intended  to  overcome.  Its  effect  may  easily 
become  that  of  a  perpetual  candidacy  in  which  the  candidates' 
energies  are  consumed  in  efforts  to  keep  abreast  of  the  fluctua- 
tions of  popular  fancy.  While  its  deterrent  effects  both  for 
good  and  for  evil  cannot  be  known,  an  encouraging  fact  is  that 
to  the  present  time  few,  if  any,  instances  are  cited  of  its  use 
with  mischievous  results. 

The  Initiative  and  the  Referendum.  A  fourth  means  by  which 
the  people  may  participate  in  the  government  of  their  own  city 
is  through  those  agencies  of  direct  legislation,  the  initiative 
and  the  referendum.  These  two  devices  are  usually,  though  not 


PARTICIPATION  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT         165 

necessarily,  found  side  by  side  in  city  government,  and  may  be 
considered  together.  Through  them  the  citizens  are  provided 
with  the  means  of  originating  or  assisting  in  the  determination 
of  lines  of  municipal  policy. 

As  applied  to  city  government  the  initiative  is  the  process  by 
which  a  designated  number  of  voters  may  by  petition  propose 
measures  of  municipal  legislation  and  compel  their  consideration 
by  the  city  council  or  by  the  voters  at  the  polls. 

The  referendum  is  the  process  by  which,  either  as  the  result 
of  petition  by  a  designated  number  of  voters  or  by  requirement 
of  law,  a  legislative  proposal  or  act  may  be  brought  before  the 
voters  for  acceptance  or  rejection.  Such  proposal  may  have 
originated  either  in  popular  initiative,  petition  or  in  action  of 
the  city  council. 

Though  logically  the  second  step  in  the  process  of  direct  legis- 
lation the  referendum  is  historically  older  and  is  more  widely 
used  than  the  initiative.  The  adoption  of  the  referendum  is  a 
return  to  the  method  of  direct  legislation  practiced  by  early 
Germanic  peoples  and  later  reproduced  in  the  American  colonies. 
In  the  New  England  town-meeting  it  was  from  the  beginning 
and  is  still  the  practice  for  the  voters  not  only  to  elect  their 
local  officers  but  also  to  adopt  by-laws  and  determine  what 
amounts  of  money  shall,  within  the  limits  of  the  powers  possessed 
by  towns,  be  raised  by  taxation  and  spent  for  the  various 
branches  of  town  administration.  From  the  time  of  the  Ameri- 
can Revolution  until  the  present  it  has  been  to  an  increasing 
degree  the  custom  to  refer  constitutions  and  constitutional 
amendments  to  popular  vote  for  approval.  There  has  likewise 
been  a  growing  tendency  to  require  state  legislatures  to  submit 
to  the  approval  of  the  voters  certain  categories  of  acts,  particu- 
larly acts  involving  the  borrowing  of  money  in  unusual  amounts. 
In  other  cases  where  there  has  been  no  constitutional  requirement 
it  is  the  practice  of  the  legislature  to  submit  special  acts  with 
regard  to  towns  and  cities  to  the  people  of  such  locality.  This 
has  been  done,  for  example,  quite  frequently  in  Massachusetts. 

Familiarity  with  the  principle  through  its  use  in  state  affairs 
as  well  as  in  the  New  England  towns  made  it  comparatively 
easy  to  extend  the  referendum  to  cities  in  certain  specified  cases. 


166  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

Thus,  for  example,  it  is  common  to  find  a  provision  in  American 
state  constitutions  prohibiting  cities  from  contracting  any  debt, 
or  pledging  their  faith  or  loaning  their  credit,  except  with  the 
approval  of  the  qualified  voters  or  the  tax  payers  within  the 
city.  In  some  instances  this  approval  is  required  for  the  levy 
of  any  tax  except  for  the  necessary  expenses  of  the  city.  In 
other  instances  it  is  only  when  it  is  proposed  to  contract  debts 
above  a  specified  maximum  that  the  referendum  is  required. 
The  restriction  sometimes  runs  that  in  no  single  year  may  there 
be  incurred,  without  the  consent  of  a  majority  of  the  voters, 
debts  greater  in  the  aggregate  than  the  annual  revenues  of  the 
city.0  A  similar  referendum  is  often  necessary  where  the  mu- 
nicipal authorities  desire  to  acquire  or  alienate  property  for 
the  municipality,  and  to  determine  the  question  whether  liquor 
shall  be  sold  within  the  municipality,  or  franchises  to  use  the 
streets  shall  be  granted.  From  the  use  of  the  referendum  on 
specific  questions  or  on  unusual  occasions  the  extension  of  its 
application  to  all  ordinary  measures  of  municipal  legislation  was 
but  a  step. 

In  cases  of  the  referendum  prescribed  in  a  constitution  of 
course  the  question  of  constitutionality  cannot  arise,  but  when 
the  authority  for  its  use  is  found  in  an  act  of  the  legislature 
there  has  been  some  divergence  of  judicial  opinion  as  to  its  con- 
stitutionality particularly  in  the  earlier  times.  A  foremost  au- 
thority on  the  subject  has  said : 

"In  nearly  all  the  states  of  the  Union  the  courts  have  con- 
sidered and  discussed  this  question,  and  the  tendency  has  been 
distinctly  favorable  to  this  kind  of  legislation.  .  .  .  Unless  an- 
other tendency  should  later  set  in  there  is  then  every  reason  for 
the  belief  that  supported  by  the  weight  of  authority  of  more 
than  a  half  century  the  referendum  regarding  local  matters 
in  American  communities  is  now  a  valid  and  constitutional  part 
of  our  system  of  government  in  every  one  of  the  forty-eight 
states."7 

Though  the  initiative  is  so  closely  related  to  the  referendum 
it  is  a  distinct  and  further  step  in  direct  legislation  and  one 

6  Oberholtzer,  "The  Referendum  in  America,"  p.  280. 

7  IUd.,  p.  321. 


PARTICIPATION  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT        167 

which  has  come  into  prominence  more  recently  than  the  refer- 
endum. The  idea  of  the  initiative  appears  in  the  right  of  every 
voter  in  the  town-meeting  to  propose  measures  of  legislation,  as 
well  as  in  the  familiar  usage  that  certain  processes  of  local  gov- 
ernment shall  be  set  in  motion  or  certain  general  laws  shall  be- 
come operative  in  the  locality  only  upon  petition  of  a  certain 
number  of  the  voters  and  a  referendum  to  the  whole  electorate. 

The  introduction  of  the  home-rule  charter  movement  in  Mis- 
souri in  1875  and  its  subsequent  widespread  adoption  gave  im- 
petus to  the  use  of  the  initiative  since  under  that  system  the 
machinery  of  charter-making  is  set  in  motion  upon  petition  of 
a  prescribed  number  of  voters.  Since  that  time  the  initiative 
and  the  referendum  have  been  incorporated  in  the  laws  of  at 
least  ten  states,  and  included  in  the  home-rule  charters  of  many 
cities.  Still  more  widespread  use  was  accorded  them  by  their 
inclusion  in  the  commission  government  law  by  Des  Moines  in 
1907  and  in  a  host  of  city  charters  and  laws  based  on  the  Des 
Moines  plan.  The  number  of  votes  required  to  initiate  a  project 
of  legislation  varies  from  five  to  thirty  per  cent  of  the  total 
vote  cast  at  the  last  preceding  election,  while  for  the  referendum 
the  percentage  required  varies  in  general  from  ten  to  twenty- 
five. 

The  causes  which  have  brought  about  a  favorable  attitude 
toward  direct  legislation  are,  on  the  part  of  the  public,  a  loss 
of  confidence  in  elected  legislative  bodies  both  as  to  their  ability 
and  their  honesty,  together  with  an  abounding  faith  in  the  un- 
limited political  capacity  of  the  individual  voter;  and,  on  the 
part  of  the  legislative  bodies,  a  willingness  to  shift  responsi- 
bility for  action  back  upon  their  constituents. 

Direct  legislation  has  had  both  enthusiastic  advocates  and 
vehement  opponents.  In  its  favor  it  is  urged  that  the  initiative 
and  referendum  are  intended  not  as  a  substitute  for  representa- 
tive government  but  as  a  stimulus  by  which  representative  gov- 
ernment may  be  quickened  to  its  work.  It  is  believed  that  by 
securing  to  the  citizen  the  opportunity  of  voting  directly  upon 
measures  rather  than  men  there  will  come  to  him  an  awakened 
interest  in  matters  which  otherwise  would  have  failed  to  attract 
his  attention.  Thereby  the  process  becomes  of  great  educational 


168  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

value.  As  to  the  value  of  the  legislative  product  it  is  said  that 
in  both  form  and  content  it  will  compare  favorably  with  the 
ordinary  product  of  representative  bodies.  The  processes  of 
direct  legislation  are,  in  the  last  resort,  a  powerful  engine  for 
bringing  forward  and  placing  on  the  statute  book  legislation 
for  the  public  welfare  which  through  the  operation  of  special 
and  selfish  interests  it  would  be  impossible  to  secure  from  repre- 
sentative bodies  of  the  usual  type. 

The  opponents,  on  the  other  hand,  though  admitting  short- 
comings in  the  representative  system,  assert  that  there  is  no 
assurance  that  measures  will  prove  of  more  interest  than  men, 
and  that  it  is  unlikely  that  greater  wisdom  or  diligence  will  be 
displayed  in  the  performance  of  one  duty  than  of  the  other. 
It  is  pointed  out  that  instead  of  being  a  stimulus  it  will  prove 
to  be  the  reverse,  since  diminishing  the  power  and  responsibility 
of  the  office  attracts  to  it  less  capable  men.  Furthermore  the 
responsibility  lifted  from  the  representatives'  shoulders  will  rest 
upon  anonymous  authors  and  become  dissipated  among  the 
voters  generally.  While  it  is  admitted  that  the  average  voter 
may  reach  a  proper  conclusion  on  a  simple  question  involving 
broad  principles  of  right  or  wrong,  or  of  general  policy,  it  is 
argued  that  he  is  quite  unprepared  to  pass  intelligently  upon  the 
great  number  of  questions  which  cannot  be  reduced  to  such 
simple  terms.  It  is  pointed  out  that,  in  fact,  a  great  share  of 
the  questions  actually  arising  are  of  a  highly  technical  and 
specialized  character  upon  which  the  average  voter  is  not  at  all 
competent  to  pass,  and  upon  which  a  determination  can  properly 
be  reached  only  after  an  intimate  discussion  and  often  only 
after  compromise.  Deductions  based  on  the  success  of  direct 
methods  of  legislation  in  town-meetings  made  up  of  a  small  and 
homogeneous  body  of  voters  with  simple  needs  are,  it  is  said, 
scarcely  conclusive  when  applied  to  the  heterogeneous  population 
and  complex  conditions  of  the  modern  city/ 

The  capacity  of  the  municipal  voter  is  perhaps  put  to  as 
searching  a  test  as  any,  when  he  is  confronted  with  questions  of 
financial  concern.  It  has  been  observed  that  while  the  people 
generally  exercise  a  restraining  influence  upon  officers  who 
would  incur  excessive  debts,  yet  they  cannot  be  trusted  always 


PARTICIPATION  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT        169 

to  recognize  when  the  debt  has  reached  the  limit  of  prudence. 
The  voters  at  any  given  time  have  very  vague  ideas  of  the  re- 
sources of  the  city,  its  outstanding  debt,  the  provisions  made  for 
payment  or  the  amount  of  indebtedness  which  the  city  can  prop- 
erly carry.  When  approval  is  asked  for  a  loan  the  voter  inquires 
as  to  its  object  and  if  that  appeals  to  him  personally  or  is  calcu- 
lated, as  he  believes,  to  promote  his  own  happiness  he  is  likely 
to  vote  for  it  without  much  regard  for  the  larger  considerations 
of  the  public  needs  and  the  state  of  the  finances.  There  is  a 
tendency  among  certain  classes  to  favor  all  loans  on  the  theory 
that  they  will  put  money  in  circulation. 

It  is  said  also  that  the  voter  "as  a  rule  approaches  a  proposi- 
tion to  increase  the  tax  rate  in  a  very  different  frame  of  mind. 
It  is  of  course  true  that  every  loan  means  a  heavier  burden  of 
taxation,  if  not  at  once,  at  some  future  time.  The  postponement 
of  the  evil  day  is,  however,  very  seductive  to  the  tax-payer;  he 
will  look  on  indifferently  while  bonds  are  issued  in  large  sums, 
but  it  is  another  matter  altogether  when  a  direct  proposal  is  made 
to  him  for  an  increase  of  the  tax  rate,  say  from  one  dollar  to  one 
dollar  twenty-five  on  each  hundred  dollars  of  the  assessed  value 
of  his  property.  No  matter  how  good  the  purpose  for  which  the 
additional  revenues  are  needed,  tax-payers  will  vigorously  resist 
this  open  attempt  to  induce  them  to  make  over  a  larger  portion 
of  their  substance  to  the  state. ' ' 8 

The  only  other  countries  having  an  important  municipal  de- 
velopment which  make  provision  in  their  legislation  for  any- 
thing in  the  nature  of  a  referendum  are  England  and  Italy.  In 
the  former  it  is  provided  that  no  expense  in  promoting  or  oppos- 
ing a  bill  in  Parliament  shall  be  incurred  unless  such  promotion 
shall  have  the  consent  of  the  owners  and  rate-payers  of  the  city. 
This  consent  is  to  be  given  at  a  meeting  of  such  owners  and  rate- 
payers, summoned  by  the  mayor,  unless  a  demand  is  made  at  such 
a  meeting  by  any  owner  or  rate-payer  that  a  poll  shall  be  taken, 
when  such  consent  shall  be  given  at  a  poll  taken  at  a  special 
election  held  for  the  purpose.  This  provision  is  not  apparently 

8  Oberholtzer,  "The  Referendum  in  America,"  p.  282.  Also  see  articles 
in  "Proceedings  of  the  American  Political  Science  Association,"  Vol.  IV, 
pp.  165,  193,  198. 


170  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

a  very  important  one  and  resort  is  seldom  had  to  it,  except  where 
a  city  desires  to  obtain  special  legislative  authorization  to  take 
over  some  public  utility.  In  Italy,  by  a  law  of  1903,  no  city  may 
enter  upon  the  field  of  municipal  ownership  and  operation  except 
after  the  policy  has  been  approved  by  the  voters  of  the  city.  In 
none  of  the  countries  in  which  the  city  council  is  a  reasonably 
satisfactory  body  has  any  attempt  been  made  to  make  large  use 
of  the  referendum.  The  only  exception  to  this  statement  is 
Switzerland,  where  urban  development  has  not  been  marked. 

It  is  perhaps  not  yet  time  to  pass  judgment  upon  this  attempt 
to  give  wide  application  to  the  principles  of  direct  legislation  in 
city  government.  The  experiment  may  fairly  be  said  to  be  still 
on  trial.  In  reaching  a  conclusion  it  should  be  remembered 
that  the  only  country  having  an  important  urban  development 
in  which  the  experiment  has  been  tried  is  the  United  States,  and 
that  in  our  cities  this  experiment  has  been  in  progress  for  but 
a  few  years.  If  by  specifying  a  sufficiently  high  percentage  of 
votes  necessary  to  set  their  machinery  in  motion,  a  too  facile 
use  of  these  weapons  may  be  avoided,  it  is  possible  that  their 
stimulative  effect  on  city  councils  may  prove  salutary.  Under 
such  circumstances  they  may  become  of  real  service  in  emergency 
without  their  becoming  at  the  same  time  instruments  of  obstruc- 
tion or  the  ready  resource  of  persistent  agitators.9 

Non-Partisan  Nominations.  A  final  channel  through  which  the 
people  participate  in  the  government  of  their  cities  is  through 
the  nomination  of  candidates  for  office.  It  is  of  course  true  that 
from  an  early  time  the  people  have  nominally  participated, 
through  caucus  and  convention,  in  the  nomination  of  candidates 
whose  selection  was  dominated  in  reality  by  a  small  coterie  of 
political  leaders.  The  attempt  in  more  recent  times  to  free 
nominations  from  machine  control  and  place  them  within  the 
control  of  the  rank  and  file  of  the  voters  has  taken  two  forms: 
first,  by  introducing  non-partisan  nominations;  and,  second,  by 
the  direct  primary. 

The  first  attempt  to  secure  non-partisan  nominations  for  city 

a  Taylor,  "Municipal  Initiative,  Referendum  and  Recall  in  Practice,"  in 
National  Municipal  Review,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  693;  Montague,  "The  Oregon  Sys- 
tem at  Work,"  in  National  Municipal  Review,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  256. 


PARTICIPATION  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT        171 

officers  was  through  the  method,  Australian  in  its  origin,  of 
nomination  by  petition.  This  Australian  system  came  to  be 
known  in  the  United  States  mainly  as  a  result  of  being  incor- 
porated in  the  English  ballot  act  of  1872.  This  act,  which  was 
later  applied  to  English  city  as  well  as  Parliamentary  elections, 
provided  in  no  way  for  the  recognition  of  parties.  Nominations 
were  to  be  made  by  two  proposers  and  approved  by  at  least  eight 
voters  of  the  district  for  which  the  election  was  to  be  held. 
When  the  question  of  the  adoption  of  an  official  ballot,  to  be  dis- 
tributed by  state  officers  at  state  expense  along  the  lines  laid 
down  in  the  English  Ballot  Act,  arose  in  the  United  States  the 
demand  was  made  that  English  methods  be  considerably  modi- 
fied. They  were  modified  in  the  first  place  by  giving  the  party 
legal  recognition.  A  party  was  recognized  as  an  organization 
which  had  cast  a  certain  percentage  of  the  vote  at  the  last  elec- 
tion. The  convention  of  the  party  making  the  nomination  was 
to  certify  its  nomination  to  the  state  ballot  officers  and  the 
candidates  of  each  party  were  placed  on  the  ballot. 

The  ballot  soon  assumed  two  typical  forms  both  of  which  de- 
parted from  the  English  idea  by  including  party  designations. 
Both  forms  have  since  been  modified  in  various  particulars  in 
different  states.  The  first,  called  the  Massachusetts  type,  seek- 
ing to  weaken  party  influence,  groups  all  the  candidates  for 
each  office,  arranging  the  names  in  each  group  in  some  pre- 
determined manner.  The  voter  is  required  to  make  a  cross 
against  the  name  of  each  candidate  for  whom  he  wishes  to  vote. 
The  second  type,  emphasizing  the  party  affiliation,  is  known  as 
the  party  column  type.  Under  this  plan  the  candidates  of  each 
party  are  placed  in  a  separate  column  at  the  top  of  which  is  the 
party  name  and  some  designating  emblem.  Party  voting  is 
made  easy  by  providing  that  one  may  vote  a  straight  party 
ticket  by  placing  a  single  cross  in  a  circle  placed  at  the  top  of  the 
party  column  for  that  purpose. 

Non-partisanship  was  recognized  in  these  American  laws  by 
provision  that  nominations  not  made  by  one  of  the  regular 
parties  might  secure  a  place  on  the  ballot  by  means  of  a  peti- 
tion. This  petition  was  to  be  signed  by  a  number  of  persons 
varying  with  the  territorial  extent  of  the  district  in  which  the 


172  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

nomination  was  made.  The  number  of  signatures  to  the 
petition  necessary  to  make  one  of  these  independent  nomi- 
nations was  as  a  general  thing  made  very  much  greater  than  was 
the  case  under  the  English  Ballot  Act  of  1872.  A  large  number 
of  signatures  was  believed  to  be  necessary  because  under  the 
American  ballot  acts,  the  state  was  to  pay  the  expense  of  the 
ballot  which  in  England  was  defrayed  by  the  candidates.  It 
was  believed  that  it  would  not  be  proper  in  this  country  to 
impose  the  cost  of  the  ballots  on  the  candidates,  and  the  number 
of  signatures  required  was  made  large  in  order  to  prevent  in- 
considerate nominations. 

The  Direct  Primary.  Through  the  adoption  of  the  direct  pri- 
mary the  attempt  is  made  to  dispense  with  the  party  convention 
and  to  permit  the  members  of  the  party  to  nominate  candidates 
directly.  First  put  in  practice  in  Crawford  county,  Pennsyl- 
vania, about  1860,  the  idea  failed  to  attract  general  attention 
for  more  than  a  generation.  Early  in  the  present  century  it 
began  to  make  rapid  headway  and  is  now  used  in  one  form  or 
another  and  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  in  nearly  every  state.  In 
general  it  provides  for  nomination  by  political  parties  which  are 
recognized  as  such  when  they  have  cast  a  certain  number  of 
votes  at  the  last  election. 

Direct  primaries  are  of  two  kinds,  closed  and  open.  In  the 
closed  type,  which  is  the  more  common,  the  nominations  of  a 
party  may  be  participated  in  only  by  regular  members  of  the 
party.  Party  membership  is  determined  in  various  ways,  usu- 
ally by  a  statement  by  the  voter,  sometimes  that  he  supported  a 
majority  of  the  party's  candidates  at  the  last  election,  some- 
times that  he  proposes  to  do  so  at  the  next  election.  At  the 
primary  the  voter  is  presented  with  a  ballot  containing  the 
names  of  the  candidates  of  his  party  only.  At  the  open  primary 
each  voter  is  provided  with  a  ballot  containing  the  names  of  the 
candidates  of  all  parties  and  he  is  free  to  participate  in  the  nomi- 
nations of  any  party.  Under  some  laws  a  man's  name  must  be 
proposed  by  a  certain  number  of  voters  in  order  that  he  may  be 
a  candidate  for  office.  By  others  any  one  who  is  eligible  to  the 
office  in  question  may  propose  himself  as  a  candidate.  The  vote 
is  a  secret  one  and  the  primary  is  conducted  in  a  manner  similar 


PARTICIPATION  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT         173 

to  that  of  an  election.  The  candidates  receiving  either  the  high- 
est number  of  votes,  or  a  number  of  votes  which  is  both  the  high- 
est and  exceeds  a  certain  percentage  of  the  votes  cast,  are  de- 
clared to  be  the  candidates  of  the  respective  parties  and  are 
placed  upon  the  official  ballot  at  the  public  elections. 

One  of  the  defects  of  this  system  of  direct  nominations  is  that 
the  votes  at  the  primary  are  frequently  so  scattered  as  to  cause 
the  nomination  of  a  candidate  who  has  only  a  comparatively 
small  minority  of  the  votes  cast.  Again,  where  the  law  provides 
for  placing  on  the  primary  election  ballot  the  names  of  the 
candidates  for  nomination  in  alphabetical  order  a  man  whose 
name  begins  with  a  letter  in  the  first  part  of  the  alphabet  would 
appear  to  have  a  much  better  chance  of  success  than  one  whose 
name  appears  at  the  end.  Attempts  are  being  made  to  remedy 
both  these  defects.  It  is  proposed  to  provide  that  the  voter  shall 
indicate  both  his  first  and  his  second  choice,  and,  in  case  no  one 
has  a  majority  of  the  first  choice  votes,  to  give  weight  to  second 
choice  votes.  In  order  to  take  away  from  persons  whose  names 
begin  with  a  letter  in  the  first  part  of  the  alphabet  the  unfair 
advantage  which  they  thus  secure,  it  has  been  proposed  to  place 
the  names  of  candidates  on  the  ballot  either  in  the  order  in  which 
they  have  been  filed,  or  as  a  result  of  a  drawing  of  lots,  or  to 
change  the  order  of  the  names  on  the  ballots,  placing  thus  A's 
name  first  on  the  first  hundred,  B  's  name  first  on  the  next  hun- 
dred and  so  on. 

The  Non-Partisan  Direct  Primary.  There  are  still  those  who 
would  eliminate  party  nominations  altogether  and  substitute 
nomination  by  petition.  The  advocates  of  such  a  system  would 
reduce  the  number  of  signatures  to  the  nomination  petition,  and 
would  arrange  the  candidates  in  alphabetical  or  some  other  order 
under  the  office  for  which  they  were  nominated  and  not  under 
the  party  column.  A  grave  difficulty  presents  itself,  however,  in 
the  large  number  of  offices  to  be  filled  by  election.  It  is  probable 
that  the  average  voter  would  be  able  under  this  plan  to  vote  even 
less  intelligently  than  when  he  relies  upon  the  party  emblem  to 
guide  him  in  his  choice.  Furthermore  it  is  desirable  that  of- 
ficers elected  at  a  given  election  should  have  so  far  as  possible 
the  same  purposes  in  view.  They  should  therefore  ordinarily 


174  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

be  members  of  the  same  party,  not  necessarily  a  state  party,  but 
a  city  party  if  that  is  ever  developed.  This  result  can  prac- 
tically be  secured  only  through  a  party  column  ballot. 

The  material  shortening  of  the  ballot  which  has  accompanied 
the  adoption  of  the  commission  form  of  government  has  given 
impetus  to  the  movement  for  non-partisan  city  elections.  The 
non-partisan  direct  primary  was  incorporated  in  the  Des  Moines 
commission  government  law  and  has  since  been  given  a  place  in 
many  charters  and  laws  following  the  Des  Moines  plan.  Under 
the  non-partisan  primary  system  the  nominations  are  made  by 
petition,  and  on  the  primary  ballot  all  candidates  for  each  office 
are  grouped  together  without  party  designations.  The  two 
names  receiving  the  highest  number  of  votes  for  each  office  at 
the  primary  are  placed  on  the  official  ballot  as  candidates  for  the 
office,  again  without  party  designation.  Under  these  favorable 
conditions  non-partisan  nominations  seem  to  have  been  satis- 
factory, but  until  the  number  of  candidates  is  much  reduced 
by  this  or  some  other  device,  it  is  not  likely  that  nomination  by 
petition  and  on  a  non-partisan  basis  will  become  successful. 

Of  the  direct  primary,  partisan  or  non-partisan,  Professor 
Merriam  has  said:  "So  far  as  its  tendencies  have  been  made 
evident,  the  direct  primary  has  justified  neither  the  lamenta- 
tions of  its  enemies  nor  the  prophecies  of  its  friends.  It  has  not 
'  destroyed  the  party ' ;  nor  has  it '  smashed  the  ring. '  It  has  not 
resulted  in  racial  and  geographical  discriminations  nor  has  it 
automatically  produced  the  ideal  candidate.  Some  'bosses'  are 
wondering  why  they  feared  the  law;  and  some  reformers  are 
wondering  why  they  favored  it.  It  appears,  then,  that  the 
direct  primary,  like  the  initiative  and  the  referendum,  is  still  on 
trial,  and  like  those  other  instruments  of  direct  action  may  find 
its  greatest  real  service,  not  as  an  assurance  of  better  nomina- 
tions, but  as  a  means  whereby,  in  emergency,  the  best  laid  plans 
of  professional  politicians  may,  in  the  public  interest,  be  brought 
to  naught."10 

City  Parties — The  Citizens'  Union.  In  spite  of  the  inaugura- 
tion of  non-partisan  nominations  and  the  direct  primary,  it  is 
doubtful  whether  it  is  possible  to  do  more  than  to  make  it  easier 

10  Merriam,  "Primary  Elections,"  p.  131. 


PARTICIPATION  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT        175 

for  the  voter  to  free  himself  from  the  domination  of  party  when 
he  is  disposed  to  make  the  attempt.  Further  efforts  to  separate 
the  management  of  city  affairs  from  considerations  of  national 
and  state  politics  must  apparently  be  made,  not  through  the  en- 
actment of  law  but  through  the  voluntary  association  of  indi- 
viduals. There  are  two  methods  by  which  cooperation  for 
purely  city  purposes  has  been  secured  and  which  are  exemplified 
in  what  has  been  done  in  New  York  City  and  in  Chicago.  The 
first  is  through  the  organization  of  a  city  party  which  shall 
nominate  candidates  or,  by  fusion  with  one  of  the  national 
parties,  secure  the  nomination  of  and  give  support  to  worthy 
candidates.  The  second  method  is  not  to  organize  a 
party  but  to  seek  by  education  and  publicity  to  secure  the  nomi- 
nation of  desirable  candidates  by  existing  parties  and  to  aid  in 
their  election.11  The  first  of  these  has  received  possibly  its 
highest  development  in  the  City  of  New  York.  About  the  year 
1890  a  large  number  of  voters  became  convinced  that  it  was  im- 
possible under  the  conditions  which  existed  in  the  city  to  secure 
good  city  government  through  the  agency  of  either  one  of  the 
great  national  and  state  political  parties.  The  attempt  was  then 
made  to  form  a  new  political  organization  not  connected  with 
either  of  the  parties,  which  should  enter  the  field  of  politics  only 
on  the  occasion  of  municipal  elections.  The  first  attempt  that  was 
made  in  this  direction  was  unsuccessful.  Subsequent  to  the 
defeat  of  this  municipal  party  the  constitution  of  the  State  of 
New  York  was  so  changed  as  to  separate  municipal  from  state 
elections.  Immediately  after  this  change  was  made,  attempt  was 
made  to  unite  the  elements  opposed  to  the  dominant  political 
party  in  the  city.  This  attempt  was  successful  and  the  govern- 
ment presided  over  by  Mayor  Strong  was  inducted  into  office. 
The  coalition  which  secured  the  election  of  Mayor  Strong  was, 
however,  multi-partisan  rather  than  non-partisan. 

In  the  election  of  1897,  the  same  forces  under  the  name  of  the 
Citizens'  Union  undertook  to  organize  a  municipal  party  with 
officers  and  committees  and  acting  through  conventions.  They 
were  defeated  at  that  election  but  have  continued  their  organiza- 

11  Tolman,  "Municipal  Reform  Movements."  Herein  the  purposes  and 
methods  of  a  large  number  of  organizations  are  described. 


176  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

tion  and  activities  to  the  present  time.  Recognizing  the  mis- 
take made  in  1897,  the  party  has  sought,  rather  than  by  nomi- 
nating candidates  of  its  own,  wherever  possible  to  secure  its  ob- 
jects by  fusion  with  the  minority  party.  By  this  means  their 
candidate  was  elected  in  1901  but  was  defeated  in  1903.  For 
some  years  the  organization's  activities  were  confined  to  the  less 
ambitious  lines  of  endorsing  or  opposing  candidates  or  some- 
times nominating  candidates  for  minor  offices.  It  has  main- 
tained a  legislative  bureau  at  Albany  which  watches  in  the  pub- 
lic interest  measures  introduced  affecting  the  city,  and  observes 
the  activities  and  votes  on  city  matters  of  the  legislative  members 
from  New  York  City.  At  the  close  of  each  session  the  league 
publishes  a  report  giving  the  legislative  record  of  each  member 
from  the  city.  In  1913,  by  fusion  with  the  Republicans  and 
other  anti-Tammany  forces  the  Union  secured  the  election  of 
Mayor  Mitchel.  Although  the  Mitchel  administration  has  been 
regarded  by  many  to  have  been  the  best  which  the  city  has  ever 
had,  at  the  election  in  1917,  owing  partly  to  the  failure  of 
fusion  plans  with  the  Republicans,  a  wave  of  reaction  brought 
about  the  complete  defeat  of  the  Union  candidates. 

The  Citizens'  Union  has  found  that  its  best  chance  of  success 
lies  in  acting  in  alliance  with  other  political  organizations,  even 
where  those  other  organizations  are  parts  of  a  national  or  state 
party.  Their  experience  has  further  shown  that  considerations 
of  state  and  national  partisan  interest  make  fusion  a  difficult 
matter  to  accomplish.  Even  intelligent  voters  readily  allow 
partisanship,  petty  prejudices  or  grievances,  and  personal  in- 
terest to  obscure  the  larger  question  of  securing  a  clean  and 
business-like  administration  of  the  city  government. 

"We  may  therefore  conclude  that  at  present  the  time  is  not 
ripe  for  the  formation  of  a  city  party  which  shall  attempt  to 
play  a  lone  hand  in  the  game  of  city  politics.  Whether  the  time 
will  ever  be  ripe  for  such  action  may  be  doubted.  A  distinctively 
city  political  party  would  appear  to  be  within  the  realm  of  prac- 
tical politics  only  where  conditions  are  very  different  from  those 
that  exist  in  the  United  States.  Even  in  England  where  the 
city  is  subjected  to  a  rather  effective  state  control,  where  special 
legislation  is  comparatively  rare,  where  the  spoils  system  of  ap- 


PARTICIPATION  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT        177 

pointment  to  municipal  office  has  not  been  adopted,  and  where 
the  only  elective  officer  of  any  importance  is  the  council  mem- 
ber, municipal  elections  are  conducted  in  large  degree  upon 
party  lines,  although  after  the  election  the  persons  elected  to  of- 
fice are  able  to  transact  the  city  business  on  its  merits  without  re- 
gard to  the  conditions  of  imperial  politics. 

The  Chicago  Municipal  Voters  League.  The  second  method  is 
typified  by  the  Municipal  Voters  League  of  Chicago  which  was 
organized  in  1896.  The  announced  purpose  of  the  league  is  "to 
secure  the  election  of  aggressively  honest  men  to  the  council." 
After  a  half  dozen  years  of  activity  it  could  be  said  of  the 
organization:  "The  once  powerful  ring  has  been  completely 
overthrown,  but  eight  of  its  fifty-three  members  remaining  in 
the  council,  and  they  are  wholly  discredited  and  without  influ- 
ence. In  its  place  there  is  a  council  of  an  unusually  high  aver- 
age in  character  and  intelligence,  fifty-three  of  whose  seventy 
members  can  fairly  be  relied  on  to  be  faithful  to  the  people  they 
represent.  Each  year  the  standard  is  being  raised.  To  become 
an  alderman  is  an  honorable  ambition  and  young  men  of  educa- 
tion and  ability  are  aspirants  for  the  position.  A  very  remark- 
able fact  is  that  in  the  organization  of  the  council  committees 
party  affiliations  have  no  place.  This  regeneration  is  by  no 
means  the  full  measure  of  the  results  achieved  in  these  cam- 
paigns. The  interest  of  the  people  in  the  welfare  of  the  city 
has  been  greatly  stimulated,  with  the  necessary  consequence  in 
a  large  increase  of  the  independent  vote  at  municipal  elec- 
tions. ' ' 12  The  results  of  the  succeeding  years  of  activity  have 
not  given  cause  to  change  materially  the  characterization  of  its 
achievements. 

The  methods  of  the  league  are  quite  different  from  those  of 
the  Citizens'  Union.  The  league  is  not  a  party  but  rather  an 
investigating  and  educating  agency.  It  assumes  that:  "The 
real  tests  of  aldermanic  service  are  honesty,  intelligence  and 
effectiveness,  with  ability  to  see  clearly  where  the  public  inter- 
ests lie  and  the  courage  and  independence  to  serve  on  the  side 
of  the  public  against  private  or  special  interests. ' ' 13  When 

12  Scott,  "The  Municipal  Situation  in  Chicago,"  Proceedings  of  the  Na- 
tional Municipal  League,  1903,  p.  148. 
pp.  140-156. 


178  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

nominations  have  been  made  the  league  submits  to  each  candi- 
date a  brief  platform  of  perhaps  a  dozen  sections,  including 
what  may  fairly  be  demanded  of  an  honest,  intelligent  and 
efficient  councilman.  This  platform  the  candidate  may  en- 
dorse, qualify,  reject  or  ignore,  but  if  signed  it  stands  as  a 
pledge  by  the  candidate  to  his  constituents.  The  attitude  of 
the  candidate  toward  this  platform,  together  with  his  public 
record,  is  presented  in  the  bulletin  of  the  league. 

Of  this  method  of  operation  it  has  been  said:  "To  secure 
good  men  in  office  in  the  first  place  demands  intelligent  and 
fearless  criticism,  and  to  furnish  this  to  the  public  is  no  light 
enterprise  for  an  executive  committee.  It  is  an  awesome  thing 
coolly  to  print  an  estimate  of  a  candidate's  personality.  It  is 
not  difficult  to  rehearse  his  training  or  point  the  lack  of  it,  but 
to  publish  its  mature  opinion  on  his  character  and  temperament 
imposes  heavy  responsibility  upon  a  civic  body.  There  must  be 
honesty  in  the  committee,  of  course,  as  well  as  earnestness,  dili- 
gence and  rare  judgment.  That  these  have  not  been  lacking 
is  demonstrated  by  the  fact  that  though  such  estimates  have  been 
published  with  startling  frankness,  to  the  best  of  our  informa- 
tion, no  candidate  has  seen  it  worth  his  while  to  sue  for  damages 
in  libel."14 

In  the  campaign  the  league  takes  an  active  part  by  supporting 
or  opposing  individual  candidates. 

The  organization  and  methods  of  the  Municipal  Voters  League 
have  been  widely  copied  by  civic  leagues  throughout  the  coun- 
try. The  conclusion  seems  to  be  general  that  the  results  of  this 
form  of  activity  are  most  encouraging.  Whenever  the  leagues 
have  taken  a  conservative  and  judicial  attitude  the  public  has 
displayed  a  disposition  to  rely  upon  their  recommendations  and 
candidates  hesitate  to  provoke  unfavorable  Criticism  from  the 
league.  j 

i*Fox,  D.  R.,  "Voters'  Leagues  and  Their  Critical  Work,"  National 
Municipal  Review,  Vol.  II,  p.  665. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE   CITY    COUNCIL 

REFERENCES  : 

The  City  Council.  Goodnow,  F.  J.,  "Municipal  Problems,"  Chap.  IX. 
Munro,  W.  B.,  "Government  of  American  Cities,"  Chap.  VIII.  Munro, 
W.  B.,  "Government  of  European  Cities,"  pp.  1(M>2,  127-162,  256-293. 
Fairlie,  J.  A.,  "Municipal  Administration,"  Chap.  VII.  Eaton,  D.  B., 
"Government  of  Municipalities,"  Chap.  X.  Williams,  H.  W.,  "Reform  of 
Our  Municipal  Councils,"  "Proceedings  of  the  National  Municipal  League," 
1896,  pp.  236-246.  Goodnow,  F.  J.,  "Place  of  the  Council  and  of  the 
Mayor  in  Municipal  Government,"  "Proceedings  of  the  National  Munici- 
pal League,"  1898,  pp.  71-81.  Durand,  E.  D.,  "Council  Government  versus 
Mayor  Government,"  Political  Science  Quarterly,  Vol.  XV  (1900),  pp. 
426-451,  675-709. 

The  Commission  and  City  Manager  Plans  of  Government.  McGregor, 
F.  H.,  "City  Government  by  Commission,"  University  of  Wisconsin  Bul- 
letin, No.  423.  Bradford,  E.  S.,  "Commission  Government  in  American 
Cities,"  Chaps.  XIV-XVIL  Woodruff,  C.  R.,  "City  Government  by  Com- 
mission," Chaps.  II,  III,  V  and  XVI.  Munro,  W.  B.,  "Government  of 
American  Cities,"  Chaps.  XII  and  XV.  "Commission  Government  and 
the  City  Manager  Plan,"  Annals  of  the  American  Academy  of  Political 
and  Social  Science,  Special  Number,  September,  1914.  Allen,  S.  B.,  "The 
Des  Moines  Plan,"  "Proceedings  of  the  National  Municipal  League," 
1907,  pp.  156-165.  James,  H.  G.,  "What  is  the  City-Manager  Plan?" 
Bulletins  of  the  University  of  Texas,  Municipal  Research  Series,  No.  6. 
Childs,  R.  S.,  "Theory  of  the  New  Controlled-Executive  Plan,  National 
Municipal  Review,  Vol.  II  (1913),  pp.  77-81.  Upson,  L.  D.,  "The  City 
Manager  Plan  for  Dayton,"  National  Municipal  Review,  Vol.  II  (1913), 
pp.  639-644.  James,  H.  G.,  "Defects  in  the  Dayton  Charter,"  National 
Municipal  Review,  Vol.  Ill  (1914),  pp.  95-97.  Coming  of  the  City 
Manager  Plan,  A  Report  by  a  Committee  of  the  National  Municipal 
League,  National  Municipal  Review,  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  44-48.  Waite,  H.  M., 
"The  Commission-Manager  Plan,"  National  Municipal  Review,  Vol.  IV, 
(1915),  pp.  40-49.  Childs,  R.  S.,  How  the  City  Manager  Plan  is 
Getting  Along,  National  Municipal  Review,  Vol.  IV,  (1915),  pp. 
371-382;  Vol.  VI  (1917),  pp.  69-73.  James,  H.  G.,  The  City -Manager 
Plan,  American  Political  Science  Review,  Vol.  VIII  (1914),  pp.  602-613. 
Upson,  L.  D.,  The  City  Manager  Plan  in  Ohio,  American  Political  Science 
Review,  Vol.  IX  (1915),  pp.  496-503. 

Original  Municipal  Organization.     A  study  of  the  history  of 

179 


180  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

municipal  development  shows  that  the  important  elements  in 
the  organization  provided  for  cities  have  been  those  to  be  found 
in  most  governmental  organizations,  viz.,  a  council  or  assembly 
and  one  or  more  magistrates.  The  Roman  city  had  its  curia  and 
its  duumvirs,  the  later  Italian  city,  its  consiglio  and  its  consuls, 
the  German  city,  its  assembly  and  council  of  magistrates  with 
the  Burgomaster  at  its  head,  and  the  Anglo-American  city,  its 
council  and  mayor.  Although  this  form  of  organization  was  de- 
veloped as  a  result  mainly  of  local  action  during  the  period  when 
cities  were  striving  to  realize  the  dream  of  a  city-state,  the  gov- 
ernments of  the  various  states  of  which  cities  became  subordinate 
parts,  did  not  seriously  depart  from  this  general  plan  when  they 
assumed  the  function  theretofore  discharged  by  the  cities  them- 
selves, of  determining  the  character  of  municipal  organization. 

Both  the  French  law  of  1800  and  the  Prussian  law  of  1808 
made  provision  for  a  council  and  magistrates,  i.e.,  the  mayor 
and  deputies,  and  the  Burgomaster  and  the  members  of  the 
Magistrat,  while  the  English  law  of  1835  recognized  in  addition 
to  the  council  a  mayor  who,  though  a  member  of  that  body,  was 
in  some  respects  distinguished  from  its  other  members.  The 
English  mayor  did  not,  however,  occupy  so  important  a  position 
as  that  accorded  to  the  city  executive  by  either  the  French  or 
the  German  law.  Indeed,  almost  all  important  functions  of 
city  government  were  vested  in  the  council,  as  had  been  the  case 
in  most  of  the  special  city  charters  which  were  replaced  by  the 
Municipal  Corporations  Act  of  1835.  While  the  continental 
practice  recognized  the  executive  authorities  of  the  city  govern- 
ment as  occupying  an  important  position,  it  did  not,  however, 
and  does  not  now,  as  will  be  shown,  make  a  clear  cut  separation 
between  them  and  the  council. 

The  Council  System.  The  English  system  of  city  government, 
which  may  be  called  council  government,  was  adopted  in  the 
charters  granted  in  the  colonial  days  to  cities  in  the  United 
States.  It  is  true  that  the  first  charter  of  New  York  distin- 
guished the  mayor,  who  was  appointed  by  the  governor  of  the 
province,  from  the  council,  whose  members  were  elected  by  the 
city  electors.  At  the  same  time  the  administrative  powers  of  the 
mayor  differed  little  from  those  possessed  by  the  elected  members 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL  181 

of  the  council.  Very  early,  however,  in  the  history  of  munici- 
pal development  in  the  United  States  there  was  a  tendency  to 
differentiate  the  mayor  from  the  council.  The  mayor,  who  as 
early  as  1822  became  elective  by  the  people  in  certain  cities,  ob- 
tained a  power,  similar  to  that  possessed  by  the  President  of  the 
United  States  and  the  governors  of  the  states,  to  veto  council 
resolutions.  Later,  executive  departments  similar  to  the 
departments  of  the  national  government  were  organized, 
the  heads  of  which,  again  like  those  of  the  national  gov- 
ernment, were  to  be  appointed  by  the  mayor,  by  and  with 
the  advice  and  consent  of  the  council.  By  about  the  middle  of 
the  nineteenth  century  the  American  city  had  an  organization 
which  resembled  very  closely  the  general  plan  of  organization 
adopted  for  the  national  government.  This  resemblance  was  too 
close  to  be  altogether  accidental.  The  student  of  the  historical 
development  of  municipal  organization  in  the  United  States  can 
hardly  fail  to  come  to  the  conclusion  that  those  responsible  for 
municipal  organization  in  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury consciously  and  purposely  adopted  the  form  of  government 
provided  by  the  United  States  constitution  as  a  model,  believing 
that  it  offered  an  ideal  not  only  for  national  but  as  well  for 
urban  government. 

Experience,  however,  soon  demonstrated  that  this  was  a  mis- 
taken view.  Hardly  was  this  supposedly  ideal  form  of  govern- 
ment adopted  than  changes  began  to  be  made  in  it.  These 
changes,  it  is  true,  were  unquestionably  made  in  many  instances 
for  partisan  political  reasons,  but  at  the  same  time  it  cannot  be 
denied  that  the  condition  of  American  city  government  in  the 
middle  of  the  nineteenth  century  was  not  satisfactory.  Whether 
the  cause  of  the  trouble  was  the  unsuitability  of  the  form  of  gov- 
ernment to  city  conditions  or  the  sacrifice  of  municipal  interests 
to  the  exigencies  of  national  and  state  politics,  to  which  allusion 
has  been  made,  it  is  difficult  to  say.  But  whatever  was  the  cause 
it  is  certainly  true  that  there  was  great  dissatisfaction  with  the 
conditions  of  city  government.  The  changes  which  were  subse- 
quently made  in  city  organization  had  three  marked  effects.  The 
first  was  to  diminish  the  power  of  the  council,  the  authority  in  the 
city  government  in  which  the  people  seem  to  have  had  least  confi- 


182  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

dence.  Axsecond  effect  which  these  changes  had  was  to  carry- 
further  the  disintegration  of  the  city  government,  the  first  step 
in  which  had  been  taken  when  the  mayor  had  been  separated 
from  and  been  made  independent  of  the  council.  A  third  effect 
of  these  changes  was  to  take  from  the  city  and  bestow  upon  the 
state  the  management  of  certain  affairs,  which  had  up  to  the 
middle  of  the  nineteenth  century  been  recognized  as  municipal 
rather  than  state  affairs. 

The  Board  System.  Many  of  the  heads  of  the  city  executive 
departments  then  in  existence  were  made  elective  by  the  city 
voters.  In  other  cases  they  were  to  be  appointed  by  the  governor 
of  the  state.  This  was  particularly  true  of  the  police  depart- 
ment. In  many  cases  the  authorities,  whether  appointed  by  the 
mayor  and  council,  elected  by  the  people,  or  appointed  by  the 
governor  of  the  state,  were  organized  as  boards  in  such  a  way 
that  the  term  of  one  member  would  expire  every  year  or  two 
years.  It  was  hoped  that  a  board  would  be  taken  out  of  the 
realm  of  active  politics  and,  having  in  its  collective  capacity 
more  or  less  continuity,  would  be  able  to  pursue  a  more  perma- 
nent policy  than  had  been  possible  under  the  old  form  of  or- 
ganization. Later,  appointment  by  the  state  governor  and  elec- 
tion by  the  city  voters  became  less  common  methods  of  filling  the 
position  of  head  of  a  city  department  and  were  replaced  by  ap- 
pointment by  the  mayor  and  council.  It  would,  however,  be 
difficult  to  select  a  city  charter  in  the  United  States  where  some 
city  office  besides  that  of  the  mayor  and  members  of  the  city 
council  is  not  filled  either  by  popular  election  or  by  appointment 
by  the  state  governor. 

But  notwithstanding  this  change  in  the  method  of  filling  city 
offices  the  system  of  city  government  existing  in  the  United  States 
about  1860  was  characterized  by  the  presence  of  independent 
boards  or  officers  holding  for  fixed  terms  generally  longer  than 
that  of  the  mayor  who  appointed  them  and  removable  from  of- 
fice only  with  extreme  difficulty.  This  system  has  been  called 
the  "board  system"  of  city  government.  It  remained  in  exist- 
ence up  to  about  1880.  No  more  typical  example  of  it  can  be 
found  than  is  presented  by  the  former  charter  of  New  York 
adopted  in  1873.  Since  the  various  boards  and  city  officers  acted 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL  183 

in  most  respects  independently  of  both  the  mayor  and  the  council, 
the  government  of  the  city  was  completely  disintegrated.  No 
one  mayor  appointed  them  all.  All  that  one  mayor  could  do  was 
to  fill  vacancies  as  they  occurred.  The  completed  diffusion  of 
responsibility  and  lack  of  harmony  in  the  government  of  the  city 
made  reform  imperative.  Without  altering  the  position  of  the 
council  the  change  inaugurated  took  the  form  of  giving  to  the 
mayor,  through  large  powers  of  appointment  and  removal,  the 
predominant  position  in  the  city  government.  This  movement, 
which  began  about  1880,  resulted  in  what  has  been  known  as  the 
' '  mayor  "  or  ' '  federal ' '  form  of  government.  A  good  example  of 
it  is  found  in  the  charter  of  New  York  adopted  in  1901. 

Under  both  the  board  and  the  mayor  systems  of  government 
the  council  sank  into  a  position  of  insignificance.  It  was  denied 
participation  in  administration  since  all  administrative  powers 
were  assumed  by  the  mayor  and  heads  of  administrative  depart- 
ments. The  powers  of  legislation  which  it  might  otherwise  have 
had  were  mostly  assumed  by  the  state  legislature.  That  body, 
either  by  general  law  or  by  special  act  as  the  case  might  be,  de- 
termined the  municipal  policies. 

In  New  York  City,  which  offers  a  typical  example,  just  prior 
to  1897,  the  year  of  the  adoption  of  the  Greater  New  York  char- 
ter, all  important  questions  relative  to  the  government  of  the  city 
were  determined  by  the  state  legislature.  The  city  had  lost  prac- 
tically all  legislative  power,  that  is,  the  power  of  formulating  the 
municipal  policy.  When,  for  example,  it  was  desired  to  inaugu- 
rate a  system  of  under-ground  rapid  transit  it  was  found  that  the 
powers  of  the  city  authorities  were  insufficient  for  the  purpose. 
Application  had  to  be  made  to  the  legislature  of  the  state,  which 
enacted  a  very  detailed  law  upon  the  subject,  providing  for  the 
carrying  on  of  the  work  by  a  commission  not  connected  with  the 
municipal  authorities.  Again,  when  the  city  desired  to  enter 
into  the  policy  of  municipal  ownership  of  the  water  front  it  was 
found  to  be  impossible  to  do  so  without  legislative  action. 
Finally,  when  it  was  desired  to  increase  the  school  facilities  of 
the  city  by  the  erection  of  a  large  number  of  new  school  houses, 
it  was  necessary  to  appeal  to  the  legislature  in  order  to  get  the 
authority  to  issue  the  necessary  bonds. 


184  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

In  the  rapid  developments  which  have  taken  place  in  the  field 
of  city  government  since  the  closing  years  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury, the  problem  of  the  structure  and  powers  of  city  councils  has 
held  a  foremost  place.  Two  distinct  and  opposing  schools  of 
opinion  and  of  consequent  practical  development  may  be  distin- 
guished. The  one  group,  including  both  practical  men  and  aca- 
demic writers,  have  directed  their  efforts  toward  the  rehabilita- 
tion of  the  council  by  restoring  to  it  many  of  the  powers  taken 
from  it  during  the  last  half  of  the  nineteenth  century.  The  other 
group  would  follow  the  trend  seen  in  the  development  of  the 
"mayor"  system  to  the  point  of  abolishing  the  council  altogether 
and  vesting  the  legislative  functions  still  preserved  to  the  city  in 
the  administrative  authorities. 

In  the  group  of  those  who  would  restore  the  council  to  a  place 
of  real  power,  the  drift  of  opinion  among  those  engaged  in  the 
practical  work  of  charter-making  is  expressed  in  the  reports  of 
the  commissions  which  had  under  revision  the  charter  of  New 
York  City  in  1897  and  again  in  1901.  The  charter  commission 
of  1897  in  its  report  said:  "When  the  Commission  came  to  con- 
sider the  legislative  department  for  the  greater  city  diverse  and 
conflicting  views  and  plans  were  urged  for  adoption.  The  gen- 
eral judgment  was  that  a  municipal  legislative  assembly  was  not 
only  necessary  but  indispensable.  But  as  to  the  constitution, 
size  and  powers  of  such  an  assembly  conflicting  views  were  also 
presented  and  urged.  .  .  .  The  Commission  has,  however,  con- 
verted the  present  Board  of  Aldermen  into  a  municipal  assembly 
consisting  of  two  houses.  .  .  .  The  charter  has  been  constructed 
upon  the  principle  that  it  is  expedient  to  give  to  the  city  all 
the  power  necessary  to  conduct  its  own  affairs.  The  Commis- 
sion has  accordingly  conferred  upon  the  municipal  assembly 
legislative  authority  over  all  the  usual  subjects  of  municipal 
jurisdiction.  The  extent  and  variety  of  its  powers,  as  well  as 
its  size,  mark  the  Commission's  sense  of  its  dignity  and  impor- 
tance. With  a  view  to  self-development  the  Commission  has  en- 
trusted the  new  city  with ' '  very  large  powers,  which  are  enumer- 
ated in  the  report.  ' '  The  city,  as  the  Commission  has  constituted 
it,  has  within  itself  all  the  elements  and  powers  of  normal  growth 
and  development,  making  it  unnecessary  to  have  habitual  re- 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL  185 

course  as  hitherto  to  the  legislature  of  the  state  for  additional 
powers — a  serious  evil  and  in  the  past  the  source  of  much  abuse. 
These  powers — great,  varied,  and  even  complex  as  they  neces- 
sarily are — will,  when  scrutinized,  be  seen  to  be  no  greater  than 
the  City  requires  and  to  be  always  legislative  in  character ;  they 
are  such  as  the  municipalities  of  England  and  of  Europe  as  well 
as  of  this  country  constantly  exercise. ' ' 

But  having  taken  this  long  step  toward  making  the  council  a 
real  policy  determining  body,  they  were  unable  to  break  entirely 
with  tradition.  Says  the  commission: — "But  while  the  charter 
thus  confers  upon  the  municipal  assembly  powers  adequate  to 
the  present  wants  and  the  future  development  of  the  City,  it 
interposes  in  accordance  with  established  American  polity  a 
variety  of  checks  and  safeguards  against  their  abuse  similar  in 
their  nature  and  purpose  to  the  constitutional  limitations  upon 
the  congress  of  the  United  States  and  the  legislatures  of  the 
several  states. ' '  Indeed,  so  many  checks  were  thrown  about  the 
action  of  the  municipal  assembly  that  the  exercise  by  the  munici- 
pal authorities  of  the  wider  powers  granted  by  the  charter  of 
1897  was  made  exceedingly  difficult.  When  this  fact  is  borne 
in  mind  it  will  at  once  be  understood  why  the  people,  both  private 
citizens  and  city  officials  who  desired  something  done,  found  it 
easier  even  under  the  charter  of  1897,  to  apply  to  the  state  legis- 
lature, as  they  had  applied  in  the  past,  than  to  worry  through 
the  various  authorities  which  by  the  charter  of  1897  had  the 
power  of  decision. 

The  grant  of  local  power  made  by  the  charter  of  1897  did  not 
thus  result  in  making  the  determination  of  municipal  policy  a 
local  matter.  The  charter  of  1897  was  revised  in  1901.  The 
commission  appointed  to  make  this  revision  said  in  its  report 
(page  4),  "In  considering  the  question  of  the  legislative  powers 
to  be  conferred  upon  the  City  of  New  York,  we  have  been  met 
in  the  first  instance  by  the  question  whether  any  city  legislature 
should  exist  at  all.  It  has  been  contended  that  the  affairs  of  the 
city  are  entirely  or  almost  entirely  of  a  business  nature,  and 
that  no  city  legislature  is  really  necessary  except  for  the  adop- 
tion of  what  may  commonly  be  called  administrative  rules  and 
regulations.  In  this  view  the  Commission  is  unable  to  concur. 


186  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

There  will  be  many  questions  relating  to  the  development  and 
internal  administration  of  the  city  which  must  be  the  constant 
subject  of  legislation  as  the  City  grows  and  as  new  and  unfore- 
seen conditions  arise.  Unless  a  city  legislative  body  exists  there 
must  be  constant  legislation  by  the  state  as  to  the  affairs  of  the 
city,  and  the  embarrassment  arising  therefrom  in  municipal  ad- 
ministration is  generally  acknowledged.  The  Commission  in 
passing  upon  the  question  of  the  legislative  powers  of  the  City 
has  substantially  adopted  the  views  which  are  well  expressed  in 
the  report  of  the  Commission  which  framed  the  present  Greater 
New  York  Charter." 

The  charter  which  was  adopted  in  1901  for  the  City  of  New 
York  differed  from  the  charter  of  1897  in  that  it  removed  cer- 
tain of  the  checks  which  had  been  imposed  upon  the  action  of 
the  municipal  assembly,  and  in  that  it  made  it  easier  for  this 
body  to  act  by  reducing  the  number  of  houses  of  which  it  was 
composed  from  two  to  one.  The  draft  as  originally  proposed 
by  the  Charter  Revision  Commission  at  the  same  time  increased 
considerably  the  ordinance  power  of  the  board  of  aldermen.  The 
legislature,  reluctant  to  surrender  to  any  degree  its  political 
domination  of  the  city,  did  not,  however,  approve  this  proposal 
and  reduced  the  powers  of  the  board  of  aldermen  in  this  respect 
almost  to  what  they  were  before.  The  charter  for  New  York 
drafted  in  1909,  but  not  adopted  by  the  legislature,  also  proposed 
to  establish  a  local  legislative  body,  but  its  powers  were  so  small 
that  it  would  not  probably,  if  the  charter  had  been  adopted,  have 
realized  the  wishes  of  the  commission. 

The  tendency  revealed  in  the  words  of  the  successive  charter 
commissions  in  New  York  City  was  in  harmony  with,  and  was 
without  doubt  strongly  influenced  by,  the  ideas  of  theoretical 
writers  on  municipal  government.  Bryce,  in  his  American  Com- 
monwealth, was  perhaps  the  first  to  question  the  wisdom  of  the 
movement  towards  the  destruction  of  the  council.  Dr.  Albert 
Shaw's  books  on  municipal  government  in  Great  Britain  and 
continental  Europe  took  even  more  positive  grounds.  Since  the 
publication  of  these  works  a  majority  of  the  books  appearing 
upon  the  question  have  acknowledged  that  a  city  council  is  abso- 
lutely necessary.  One  of  the  most  urgent  pleas  for  its  retention 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL  187 

and  for  the  increase  of  its  powers  is  that  of  Dorman  B.  Eaton  in 
his  "Government  of  Municipalities."  Few  of  the  theoretical 
writers  have  gone  so  far  as  to  advocate  the  restoration  of  the 
council  to  the  position  which  it  occupied  in  the  United  States 
prior  to  1830  when  it  absolutely  controlled  the  city  government. 
A  marked  exception  to  this  rule  is  Dr.  E.  D.  Durand,  who  advo- 
cates the  entire  rehabilitation  of  the  city  council  and  the  adop- 
tion of  what  has  come  to  be  known  as  the  English  system  of 
municipal  government.1 

Arguments  for  Council  Idea: — It  is  Representative.  The 
question  of  the  position  of  the  city  council  in  the  government  has 
ceased,  then,  to  be  merely  an  academic  question  and  has  become 
one  of  practical  importance.  For  this  reason,  and  particularly 
since  there  has  arisen  an  active  movement  ably  supported  in  the 
opposite  direction,  it  will  be  well  to  consider  the  main  arguments 
wnich  have  been  advanced  by  the  adherents  of  council  govern- 
ment, if  we  may  include  within  that  term  all  those  who  favor  an 
increase  of  its  powers. 

The  first  argument  to  be  noticed  is  the  one  which  is  the  basis 
of  the  thesis  of  Dr.  Durand.  His  argument  is  an  attack  on  the 
principle  of  separation  of  powers  as  applied  to  all  forms  of 
government,  and  particularly  on  the  applicability  of  the  prin- 
ciple to  municipal  government.  '  This  argument,  as  Dr.  Durand 
is  quite  aware,  may  be  used  as  well  in  favor  of  the  increase  of 
the  power  of  the  mayor  and  executive  departments  as  in  favor 
of  the  rehabilitation  of  the  council.  Dr.  Durand  therefore  at- 
tempts to  show  that  a  single  individual,  even  had  he  the  neces- 
sary time,  is  not  as  well  fitted  as  a  body  for  the  exercise  of  de- 
liberative authority  whether  in  the  nation,  the  state  or  the  city ; 
that  a  similar  line  of  reasoning  goes  to  show  that  the  action  of  a 
body  is  more  likely  to  be  honest  and  upright  than  that  of  an  in- 
dividual; that  another  important  consideration  in  favor  of  en- 
trusting discretionary  authority  to  a  body  rather  than  an  in- 
dividual is  that  thereby  greater  continuity  is  secured ;  and  that, 
finally,  a  body  is  to  be  preferred  to  a  single  individual  because 
it  is  more  apt  truly  to  represent  the  people. 

i  Durand,  E.  D.,  "Council  versus  Mayor,"  Political  Science  Quarterly, 
Vol.  XV  (1900),  p.  692. 


188  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

— Municipal  Home  Rule.  The  second  argument  which  has  been 
advanced  in  favor  of  the  rehabilitation  of  the  council  is  that  its 
existence  is  necessary  in  order  that  a  reasonable  municipal  home 
rule  may  be  secured.  In  the  latter  years  of  the  last  century 
certain  cities  in  at  least  four  states  secured  the  right  to  make 
and  adopt  their  own  charters.  This  right  carried  with  it  the 
power,  not  only  to  decide  upon  the  form  of  municipal  govern- 
ment, but  to  undertake  at  will  any  form  of  local  governmental 
activity  in  which  the  city  might  desire  to  engage,  so  long  as  it 
was  not  contrary  to  the  constitution  and  general  laws  of  the 
state.  This  treatment  of  municipal  powers  constituted  a  re- 
versal of  the  general  rule  that  the  municipal  corporation  is  a 
body  of  strictly  enumerated  powers. 

This  development  seems  not  to  have  attracted  widespread  at- 
tention for  some  time,  but  during  the  early  years  of  the  new 
century  its  possibilities  as  a  means  of  escape  from  legislative 
domination  either  by  the  mischievous  method  of  special  legisla- 
tion or  by  the  leveling  process  of  uniform  general  laws  were  per- 
ceived. The  home-rule  charter  movement  thereupon  gained 
ground  rapidly.  The  champions  of  a  rejuvenated  council  saw 
the  potentialities  of  this  movement.  They  reasoned  that  if  cities 
were  to  have  a  free  hand  in  the  determination  of  municipal  poli- 
cies and  in  carrying  them  out  when  determined  upon,  strictly 
legislative  functions  must  be  entrusted  to  a  real  deliberative 
body.  It  was  believed  that  so  long  as  modern  American  ideas  of 
government  are  held,  such  broad  powers  of  a  deliberative  char- 
acter would  never  be  deliberately  and  for  long  entrusted  to  ad- 
ministrative officers  or  boards  who  do  not  owe  their  election  to 
the  people,  or  to  a  body  which,  even  if  elected,  is  so  small  as  not 
to  be  fairly  representative  of  the  citizenship.  The  wide  adop- 
tion of  the  home-rule  charter  plan  seemed,  to  these  persons,  des- 
tined to  carry  with  it  the  rehabilitation  of  the  city  council  as  a 
real  deliberative  and  policy-forming  body.  If,  however,  the 
municipal  council  is  destroyed  or  what  is  practically  the  same 
thing,  shorn  of  its  powers,  such  powers  will  not  be  conferred  upon 
administrative  officers  or  boards  but  will  be  exercised  by  the  legis- 
lature of  the  state,  which  is  generally  regarded  as  more  repre- 
sentative in  character  than  these  boards  or  officers  ever  can  be. 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL  189 

The  destruction  of  the  municipal  council  means,  therefore,  not 
the  destruction  of  the  council  or  representative  idea  of  govern- 
ment, but  merely  the  transfer  of  local  legislative  powers  to  a 
central  legislative  body.  The  more  important,  then,  the  city 
council,  the  less  important  will  be  the  legislature  in  the  deter- 
mination of  the  policy  of  the  city. 

— Exclusion  of  Politics.  The  third  argument  which  has  been 
advanced  in  favor  of  the  council  is  to  the  effect  that  only  where  it 
exists  is  it  possible  to  keep  politics  out  of  the  city  administra- 
tion. This  argument  has  taken  two  somewhat  different  forms. 
The  first  is  one  upon  which  Mr.  Eaton  lays  great  emphasis.  His 
contention  is  that  a  council  may  be  a  non-partisan  body ;  a  mayor 
never  can  be.  He  says,  "Save  in  very  rare  cases  of  a  non- 
partisan  uprising  and  union  for  municipal  reform  a  mayor  will 
be  not  the  representative  of  the  city  or  its  people  as  a  whole, 
but  only  of  some  party  majority.  Such  an  election  would  in- 
crease party  power  and  would  tend  to  perpetuate  city  party 
domination.  ...  It  is  plain  that  a  true  council  is  in  its  nature 
a  non-partisan  body,  because  one  in  which  ...  all  parties,  in- 
terests and  sentiments  of  importance  will  be  represented.  To  in- 
crease the  authority  of  the  mayor  is  therefore  to  increase  the 
power  of  party  in  the  city  government,  while  to  increase  the 
authority  of  the  council  is  to  augment  the  influence  of  the  non- 
partisan  and  independent  elements  among  the  people.  The  issue 
between  predominating  powers  in  the  mayor  and  predominating 
powers  in  the  council  is  consequently  but  another  form  of  the 
issue  between  party  government  and  non-partisan  government 
in  cities — between  government  by  party  opinions  through  par- 
tisan officers,  and  government  by  public  opinion  through  non- 
partisan  officers. ' ' 2 

The  other  form  which  this  argument  takes  is  that  the  existence 
of  the  council  is  necessary  if  we  desire  in  our  municipal  ad- 
ministration to  distinguish  politics,  that  is  the  function  of  de- 
termining policy,  from  administration,  that  is  the  function  of 
carrying  out  a  policy  once  determined  upon.3  If  these  func- 
tions are  not  clearly  distinguished  it  is  difficult  if  not  impos- 

2  Eaton,  "Government  of  Municipalities,"  p.  252. 
3Goodnow,  "Municipal  Problems,"  p.  221  et  seq. 


190  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

sible  to  prevent  politics  from  affecting  administration,  not  only 
in  its  action  but  also  in  its  organization,  with  the  result  that 
qualifications  for  even  clerical  and  technical  positions  in  the 
public  service  soon  become  political  in  character.  While  it  is 
necessary  in  all  governmental  organizations  to  separate  poli- 
tics from  administration  it  is  particularly  necessary  in  the  case 
of  municipal  government  on  account  of  the  technical  character 
of  a  large  part  of  municipal  administration.  Positions  in  many 
branches  of  municipal  activity  must  be  filled  by  men  with  large 
technical  knowledge  if  the  work  of  the  city  is  to  be  carried  on 
advantageously,  and  our  past  experience  not  only  with  regard  to 
municipal  administration  but  also  with  regard  to  the  national 
and  state  administrations  proves  that  if  politics  are  allowed 
influence  in  the  appointment  to  such  technical  positions,  they  are 
not  filled  by  competent  men. 

The  almost  universal  result  in  cases  where  the  council  has 
been  reduced  to  a  position  of  unimportance  is  exemplified  in  New 
York  and  Brooklyn  under  their  charters  before  1897.  In  those 
cities  the  mayor  and  executive  officers,  acting  either  separately  or 
together,  exercised  almost  all  municipal  powers,  both  legislative 
and  administrative,  not  assumed  by  the  legislature  of  the  state. 
The  heads  of  departments  in  these  cities  ceased  altogether  to  be 
permanent  in  tenure,  and  it  was  considered  almost  as  a  matter  of 
political  principle  that  each  incoming  mayor  should  appoint  new 
incumbents.  Indeed,  the  charters  of  both  cities  made  a  special 
point  of  permitting  each  mayor  to  secure  heads  of  departments 
who  would  represent  the  issues  on  which  he  himself  was  elected 
and  stood,  although  he  was  given  no  continuing  power  of  re- 
moval. . 

This  destruction  of  permanence  in  office  seemed  to  be  neces- 
sary in  order  to  make  such  a  system  of  municipal  government 
popular  in  character,  but  popular  government  was  thus  secured 
at  the  expense  of  the  highest  administrative  efficiency.  What 
was  really  done  by  such  an  arrangement  was  to  create  a  munici- 
pal council  in  a  new  form,  which  did  not,  it  is  true,  possess  all  of 
the  powers  of  the  original  council,  but  which  did  actually  deter- 
mine what  should  be  the  policy  of  the  city  so  far  as  that  was 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL  191 

a  matter  for  local  determination.  The  great  defect  of  such  an 
arrangement  was  that  officers  who  should  be  administrative  be- 
came political  in  character. 

Rise  of  Commission  Government.  While  theoretical  writers 
were  discussing  the  preservation  of  the  city  council  and  charter- 
makers  were  seeking  to  restore  it  to  vigorous  life,  a  group  of  men 
of  affairs,  drawing  on  their  business  experience,  were  inaugurat- 
ing a  plan  of  government  embodying  the  opposite  principle. 
This  plan  of  organization,  which  originated  in  Galveston,  Texas, 
as  an  emergency  measure  after  the  great  inundation  of  1900,  has 
come  to  be  known  as  the  "commission  plan"  of  city  government. 
Though  it  originated  quite  apart  from  all  political  theories,  the 
new  plan  carried  forward  the  ideas  of  the  group  who  would 
minimize  the  council  and  magnify  the  work  of  the  administration. 
The  new  plan  at  once  attracted  much  attention  but  found  no 
imitators,  save  Houston,  Texas,  in  1905,  until  1907.  In  that 
year  Des  Moines,  Iowa,  adopted  the  system  incorporating  there- 
with the  initiative,  the  referendum,  the  recall,  non-partisan  nomi- 
nations and  the  merit  system  of  appointment.  The  plan  at  once 
gained  popularity  and,  in  substantially  the  Des  Moines  form,  has 
been  very  widely  adopted  under  general  laws  and  special  acts  as 
well  as  in  home-rule  charters. 

The  essence  of  the  new  plan  of  government  is  that,  departing 
from  conventional  municipal  forms,  it  eliminates  the  council 
altogether  and  vests  all  power  both  legislative  and  administra- 
tive in  an  administrative  commission  usually  of  five  persons 
elected  on  a  general  ticket.  In  the  smaller  cities  the  number  of 
commissioners  is  sometimes  reduced  to  three. 

The  commission  acting  in  its  legislative  -capacity  enacts  all* 
ordinances  and  votes  aH  apprp^riatiqns.  It  is  likewise  the  re- 
sponsible head  of  the  administration.  It  selects  its  own  chair- 
man who,  although  he  is  sometimes  called  "mayor,"  as  such  has 
no  veto  power,  nor  any  administrative  authority  beyond  that  of 
his  fellow  commissioners.  All  minor  city  officers  are  appointed 
by  the  commission  as  a  whole  or  by  individual  commissioners,  so 
that  the  voters  are  called  upon  to  elect  no  officers  other  than  the 
commissioners.  The  commissioners  are  severally  the  heads  of  the 
departments  into  which  the  administrative  services  of  the  city  are 


192  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

grouped,  and  each  is  responsible  to  the  commission  as  a  whole  for 
the  work  of  his  department. 

The  commission  plan  returns  to  the  original  form  of  city  gov- 
ernment in  the  United  States  in  that  it  unites  in  one  authority 
the  legislative  and  administrative  functions,  but  with  the  impor- 
tant difference  that  whereas  the  single  authority  was  formerly 
legislative  in  character,  it  is  under  the  new  plan  administrative. 
Just  as  under  the  earlier  plan  the  members  of  the  council  acting 
together  voted  appropriations  and  made  contracts  for  city  work, 
and  then  as  members  of  various  committees  supervised  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  undertaking,  so  now  again  the  commission 
provides  the  funds  and  the  individual  commissioners  thereupon 
direct  the  disbursement  of  these  funds.  Thus  is  abandoned  the 
principle  of  the  separation  of  powers  which  was  first  applied  to 
city  government  in  the  United  States,  not  because  it  was  believed 
to  be  peculiarly  adapted  to  urban  conditions,  but  because  the 
principle  was  thought  to  be  an  axiom  of  political  science  appli- 
cable to  all  forms  of  government. 

Criticism  of  Commission  Government.  In  the  endless  series 
of  experiments  in  municipal  organization  no  development  has 
evoked  such  enthusiastic  praise  or  such  fierce  denunciation  as  the 
commission  plan.  Although  its  administrative  rather  than  its 
legislative  aspects  have  more  especially  attracted  attention  and 
given  rise  to  discussion,  it  is  necessary  to  envisage  both  in  seek- 
ing to  arrive  at  any  just  conclusion  as  to  its  merits  as  a  whole. 
The  arguments  for  and  against  the  system  are  found  to  be  some- 
what is  follows: 

In  its  favor  it  is  said: — First:  There  are  secured  certain  ad- 
vantages which  result  from  concentration  of  authority  and  re- 
sponsibility. Chief  among  them  is  harmony  of  action.  This  is 
substituted  for  the  opposition  of  interests  and  the  deadlocks 
which  arise  under  the  mayor-council  or  any  system  based  on  the 
principle  of  checks  and  balances.  Concentration  of  authority 
removes  circumlocution  and  delay,  and  makes  way  for  the 
promptness  and  directness  of  action  characteristic  of  successful 
business  administration.  On  account  of  the  centralization  ef- 
fected it  is  possible  to  locate  responsibility  for  faults  of  com- 
mission and  of  omission  to  a  degree  hitherto  impossible. 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL  193 

Second :  The  arguments  based  on  the  general-ticket  method  of 
electing  city  councils  apply  to  the  commission  plan,  viz.,  that  the 
evils  of  ward  politics,  the  gerrymander  and  the  log-rolling  among 
small  interests  are  done  away  with,  and  that  the  persons  elected 
to  be  commissioners  will  be  of  such  reputation  and  character  as  to 
command  city-wide  support  and  will  be  capable  of  viewing  civic 
policy  in  its  largest  aspects. 

Third :  Since  the  people  choose  only  the  commissioners  the  ad- 
vantages of  the  short  ballot  are  secured.  By  this  means  ad- 
ministrative offices  involving  professional  and  technical  qualifica- 
tions will  be  filled  as  the  result  of  appointment  and  consequently 
with  greater  discrimination  than  is  possible  at  the  polls.  In  a 
considerable  proportion  of  the  commission-governed  cities  the 
commission  is  a  continuing  body,  only  a  portion  of  its  member- 
ship being  renewed  in  any  one  year.  The  electorate  is  thus  called 
upon  to  select  not  more  than  one  or  two  persons  at  an  election. 
The  concentration  of  attention  on  so  small  a  number  of  candi- 
dates makes  a  real  choice  possible. 

Fourth :  Granting  the  imperfections  of  the  system,  still  the  im- 
provements wrought  under  it  are,  it  is  claimed,  so  great  when 
compared  with  the  corruption  and  inefficiency  common  under  the 
older  plans  that  few  cities  having  once  tried  the  new  seriously 
consider  a  return  to  the  old  form. 

Critics  of  the  commission  system  assert : — First,  That  in  char- 
acter and  ability  the  commissioners  chosen  have  not  been  superior 
to  those  holding  higher  offices  under  the  older  forms  of  govern- 
ment. A  large  number  of  those  elected  as  commissioners,  it  is 
pointed  out,  had  previously  held  office  under  the  old  system  and 
it  is  not  a  safe  assertion  that  those  who  had  not  were  superior  to 
their  predecessors  in  official  positions. 

Second:  That  while  simplicity  of  structure  and  directness  of 
action  have  made  easier  the  introduction  of  business-like  ad- 
ministration they  have  not  given  assurance  that  such  a  result  will 
actually  follow.  An  investigator  has  said:  "With  some  notable 
exceptions,  the  commission  government  cities  studied  show  little 
administrative  progress.  Unless  the  governments  that  preceded 
them  were  wholly  barren  of  method  and  utterly  incompetent,  the 
administrative  changes  as  yet  wrought  by  commission  govern- 


194  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

ment  are  not,  for  the  most  part,  especially  noteworthy."  4  It  is 
asserted  that  in  the  administration  of  problems  involving  the  em- 
ployment and  control  of  men  as  well  as  with  the  purchase,  care 
and  use  of  materials,  problems  which  test  real  business  efficiency, 
commission  government  has  shown  little  improvement  over 
achievement  under  other  forms  of  government. 

Third :  It  is  a  mistake  to  unite  in  one  authority  both  the  appro- 
priating and  the  spending  of  funds.  It  is  admitted,  however, 
that  this  criticism  holds  equally  against  any  system  which  com- 
bines all  powers  of  government  in  one  body,  and  that  any  such 
theoretical  objection  can,  in  view  of  American  municipal  expe- 
rience under  a  separation  of  powers,  carry  but  little  weight. 

Fourth :  It  is  less  truly  representative  than  the  mayor-council 
system.  The  fact  that  the  commission  is  formed  under  circum- 
stances where  administrative  considerations  are  kept  to  the  front 
rather  than  considerations  of  popular  opinion  should  not  be  lost 
sight  of.  It  has  been  observed  that  under  American  ideas  of  gov- 
ernment, policy  forming  must  be  done  by  bodies  somewhat  widely 
representative  in  character.  If  perchance  such  representative 
bodies  are  endowed  with  administrative  powers  no  principle  of 
popular  government  is  violated.  The  worst  that  may  be  said  is 
that  efficiency  is  sacrificed.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  a  small  ad- 
ministrative body  designed  primarily  to  secure  efficiency  in 
action  is  given  policy-forming  powers,  government  thereby  be- 
comes less  truly  representative.  American  ideals  demand  that 
efficiency  yield  to  popular  control.  Furthermore,  if  the  repre- 
sentative principle  is  to  be  violated  to  this  extent  for  the  sake  of 
concentration  of  authority  and  responsibility,  then  the  logic  of 
the  situation  would  demand  that  the  concentration  be  carried  to 
the  point  of  creating  a  single  administrative  head  rather  than  a 
plural  executive  of  five. 

Fifth :  It  is  charged  that  those  in  authority  under  the  commis- 
sion system  have  failed  to  catch  any  new  vision  of  social  service, 
and  that  they  have  developed  no  wider  constructive  plans  for  the 
promotion  of  the  moral,  sanitary,  economic  or  social  welfare  of 
the  community  than  did  the  representatives  of  the  older  sys- 
tems. 

•*Bruere,  "The  New  City  Government,"  p.  185. 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL  195 

Conclusions  as  to  Commission  Government.  The  commission 
government  movement  is,  it  should  be  remembered,  a  charter 
movement  and  not  a  program  of  social  reform.  Hence  its  con- 
tribution to  municipal  government  is  primarily  through  the  de- 
velopment of  an  organization  which  may  produce  greater  effi- 
ciency in  government,  and  only  secondarily  through  the  advance- 
ment of  the  general  welfare  of  the  community.  Likewise,  in  esti- 
mating its  value  from  the  viewpoint  of  governmental  organiza- 
tion, the  merits  of  the  system  in  its  essential  elements  should  be 
distinguished  from  those  of  certain  non-essential  features  which, 
since  Des  Moines  set  the  example,  have  commonly  been  associ- 
ated with  the  plan,  viz.,  the  initiative,  referendum,  recall,  non- 
partisan  elections  and  the  merit  system  of  appointment.  Com- 
mission government  may  exist  without  any  of  these  and  they  may 
be  employed  quite  as  readily  with  other  forms  of  government.5 

As  a  method  of  governmental  organization  it  achieves  a  new 
concentration  of  authority  and  responsibility  and  thereby  sim- 
plicity of  method  and  directness  of  action,  i.e.,  a  more  efficient 
governmental  machine.  It  offers,  therefore,  an  opportunity 
rather  than  an  assurance.  Since  it  is  not,  from  the  legislative 
point  of  view  broadly  representative,  it  must,  in  turn,  yield  prece- 
dence to  any  system  which  combines  with  simplicity,  directness 
and  efficiency,  a  more  truly  representative  method  of  policy  de- 
termination. The  criticism,  too,  is  well  founded  that  on  the 
administrative  side  the  commission  plan  fails  to  carry  to  its 
logical  conclusion  the  process  of  administrative  centralization 
which  would  be  accomplished  by  setting  up  a  single  head  rather 
than  a  plural  executive. 

Though  the  short-ballot  principle  in  the  commission  plan  has 
apparently  not  produced  an  entire  change  in  the  character  of  the 
personnel,  it  is  probably  true  that  those  persons  elected  as  com- 
missioners were  among  the  best  of  the  former  office-holders.  The 
appointees  are,  it  would  appear,  upon  the  whole  superior  to  those 
holding  similar  positions  under  the  old  system. 

The  success  of  the  commission  plan  when  judged  by  service 
rendered  to  the  community  under  its  operation  has  been  sum- 

s  Bates,  "Forms  of  City  Government,"  Indiana  Bureau  of  Legislative 
Information,  Bulletin  No.  5,  p.  15. 


MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

by  a  sympathetic  investigator:  "The  introduction  of  the 
commission  form  has  resulted  in  a  marked  increase  in  efficiency 
in  municipal  finance,  in  the  care  of  streets,  including  paving  and 
lighting,  has  advanced  the  administration  of  police  and  health  de- 
partments, though  to  a  less  degree  than  finance  and  engineering, 
and  has  brought  about  a  more  satisfactory  operation  of  munici- 
pal utilities  and  regulation  of  public  service  corporations  than 
prevailed  under  the  aldermanic  plan."6  The  observations  of 
others  bear  out  the  conclusions  that  the  most  marked  achieve- 
ments under  the  plan  have  been  in  the  direction  of  public  im- 
provements rather  than  in  matters  of  public  morals,  health  or 
social  welfare.  While  in  the  larger  aspects  of  finance  there  has 
been  improvement,  in  the  technique  of  business  administration 
the  advance  has  been  small.  A  review  of  the  whole  movement 
leads  to  the  conclusion  that  quite  as  important  as  any  gain  due 
to  intrinsic  merits  of  the  plan  has  been  the  awakening  of  a  civic 
spirit.  This  spirit  has,  for  the  time  at  least,  inspired  in  officials 
a  new  conception  of  their  office  and  in  the  citizens  a  new  sense  of 
personal  relation  to  the  city  and  its  government. 

"The  chief  danger  involved  in  the  commission  government 
movement  is  that,  once  citizens  have  secured  the  adoption  of 
the  plan,  they  will  rely  upon  the  plan  and  not  upon  citizen 
interest  and  insistence  for  furthering  governmental  progress. 
The  commission  movement  is  not  a  continuing  effort  to  promote 
efficient  government  but  a  single  peremptory  re-ordering  of  the 
governmental  machine  with  the  expectation  that  it  will  work 
more  satisfactorily  in  consequence.  Commission  government 
associations  stop  working  when  commission  government  is  at- 
tained."7 

"Citizens  have  yet  to  learn  that  commission  government  will 
in  the  long  run  be  no  better  than  any  other  government,  unless 
it  adopts  a  constructive  social  policy  and  introduces  methods 
of  scientific  business  management. ' ' 8 

The  City  Manager.     The  defect  of  the  commission  plan  in 

8  Bruere,  "The  New  City  Government,"  p.  84,  quoting  conclusions  of  E. 
S.  Bradford. 

7  Bruere,  "The  New  City  Government,"  p.  96. 
s  Ibid. 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL  197 

that  it  impairs  the  representative  character  of  the  body  vested 
with  policy-determining  powers  has  not  as  yet  impressed  itself 
upon  the  public  because  the  prevailing  policy  of  the  state  legis- 
latures has  left  little  of  a  legislative  character  for  the  council 
or  commission  to  do.  The  tendency  toward  the  emancipation 
of  city  councils  through  the  grant  to  the  cities  of  charter-making 
powers  is  likely  at  no  distant  day  to  call  attention  to  this  matter. 
Meantime  the  weakness  of  the  plan  in  that  it  sets  up  a  plural 
administrative  head  has  aroused  criticism  both  from  the  theorists 
and  from  those  who  have  been  influenced  solely  by  the  results 
of  its  practical  operation.  Of  this  defect  it  has  been  said: 
"Theoretically  it  is  true  the  commission  as  a  whole  is  respon- 
sible for  the  administrative  as  well  as  the  legislative  side,  but 
in  popular  imagination  and  in  actual  practice  each  commis- 
sioner is  an  independent  administrative  head  and  his  is  the 
real  responsibility  for  the  effectiveness  of  his  department. 
Manifestly  this  makes  a  five-headed  executive  for  the  city  as  a 
whole  and  one  would  expect  the  inconveniences  that  inevitably 
result  from  a  diffusion  of  executive  power  to  make  themselves 
felt  under  such  an  arrangement. ' ' 9 

To  provide  a  remedy  there  has  been  developed  the  city  manager 
plan  which  found  its  first  application  in  Sumter,  S.  C.,  in  1912 
and  which  has  since  been  rather  widely  adopted.  Under  this 
system  the  commission  retains  all  its  legislative  powers  and  its 
control  over  the  administrative  service,  but  the  actual  administra- 
tion of  affairs  is  delegated  to  a  new  official  called  the  city  mana- 
ger appointed  by  and  responsible  to  the  commission.  In  some 
of  the  charters  embodying  the  new  feature  the  non-technical 
officers,  such  as  judge,  clerk,  attorney,  auditor  and  civil  service 
commissioners,  are  still  appointed  by  the  commission.  The 
manager  has  under  these  charters  the  appointment  and  direction 
of  the  engineering  and  industrial  services  only.  Elsewhere  the 
whole  official  service  is  appointed  and  controlled  by  the  city 
manager. 

Although  the  position  of  city  manager  is  primarily  an  adminis- 
trative device  its  introduction  carries  with  it  possibilities  of  a 

9  James,  "What  is  the  City  Manager  Plan  ?"  Univ.  of  Texas,  Bulletin 
No.  6,  Municipal  Research  Series. 


198  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

legislative  character  deserving  of  mention.  Thus  far  the  new 
form  is  commonly  spoken  of  as  the  "commission-manager" 
form  and  in  nearly  all  cases  the  manager  feature  has  been 
employed  in  connection  with  a  commission.  This,  however,  is 
by  no  means  essential.  The  two  fundamental  purposes  of  the 
commission  form  are  to  centralize  administration  and  at  the 
same  time  to  concentrate  legislative  and  administrative  authority 
and  responsibility.  «By  the  introduction  of  the  manager  the 
first  of  these  is  attained,  and  by  subordinating  him  to  the  com- 
mission the  second  purpose  is  accomplished.  There  remains, 
then,  no  imperative  reason  why  the  legislative  body  should  re- 
main so  small.  It  is  not  improbable  that  with  the  extension 
of  municipal  home  rule  and  the  manager  idea,  the  council  may 
be  restored  to  its  early  position  as  a  municipal  legislature. 
Should  this  occur,  the  cycle  of  municipal  legislative  development 
will  have  become  complete. 

The  English  Municipal  System.  If  the  most  important  munic- 
ipal systems  of  the  western  world  be  compared  from  the  point 
of  view  of  the  relative  importance  of  the  council,  there  are 
found  to  be  three  fairly  distinct  forms  of  municipal  government : 
the  English,  the  continental  and  the  American  systems.  The 
first  to  be  considered  is  the  English  system,  which  recognizes 
the  council  as  the  only  organic  authority  in  the  municipal  sys- 
tem. The  management  of  public  charity,  which  is  regarded  as 
of  state  rather  than  local  interest,  is,  it  is  true,  in  the  hands  of 
an  elective  board,  known  as  the  board  of  guardians.  But  as 
the  union,  the  poor  law  district,  is  not  coterminous  with  the 
borough,  the  care  of  the  poor  should  not  be  regarded  in  England 
as  a  municipal  function. 

With  this  exception,  however,  the  borough  council  is  really 
the  only  authority  known  to  the  law  of  municipal  corporations  in 
England.  The  English  borough  council  has,  subject  to  a  few 
limitations,10  complete  power  of  organizing  the  city  government. 

10  Such  as  the  provisions  that  there  must  be  a  mayor  and  aldermen 
elected  by  the  council,  an  education  committee,  a  watch  committee,  two 
revising  assessors  for  election  lists  and  three  auditors,  a  public  health 
officer,  an  inspector  of  nuisances,  a  town  clerk,  a  treasurer,  and  a  chief 
constable. 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL  199 

It  has  the  power  of  appointing,  removing  and  directing  all 
borough  officers,  and  a  series  of  powers  quite  numerous  and  quite 
broad  conferred  upon  it  by  the  Municipal  Corporations  Act  of 
1882  and  the  Public  Health  Act  of  1875,11  and  other  general  acts, 
such  as  the  tramways  acts,  the  baths  and  wash-houses  acts,  the 
libraries  acts  and  the  allotment  acts.12 

Through  the  exercise  of  these  powers  each  English  borough 
council  may  adapt  the  general  scheme  of  municipal  organization 
provided  by  the  municipal  corporations  act  to  the  needs  of  the 
borough  it  represents.  It  may  adopt  single-headed  departments 
or  boards  as  it  sees  fit ;  it  may  provide  for  the  merit  system  of 
appointment  or  not,  as  it  deems  expedient,  and  it  may  change  the 
details  of  the  administrative  organization  which  it  establishes 
where  and  when  it  will.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  the  im- 
mediate supervision  of  the  detailed  work  of  city  administration 
is  entrusted  to  council  committees.  Since  the  council  has  ab- 
solute power  over  the  affairs  of  the  borough  within  the  limits  of 
the  law  and  subject  to  the  central  administrative  control,  there  is 
no  question  in  the  minds  of  its  subordinates  as  to  its  supremacy. 
The  chance  of  conflict  between  local  authorities  is  reduced  if  not 
eliminated.  The  concentration  of  power  in  the  council  makes 
it  certain  that  the  energies  of  municipal  officers  will  be  directed 
towards  the  carrying  out  in  detail  of  the  policy  determined  upon 
by  the  council  and  will  not  be  dissipated  in  struggles  for  su- 
premacy with  each  other. 

The  Continental  Municipal  System — German  Form.  The  sec- 
ond system  of  municipal  government  to  be  copsidered  is  the 
continental  system.  This  offers  two  forms:  first,  the  German, 
and  second,  the  Franco-Italian. 

The  German  system  differs  from  the  English  in  that  it  makes 
provision  by  the  side  of  the  council  for  an  executive,  which  is 
either  one  man  or  a  board.  It  may  be  said,  it  is  true,  that 
municipal  powers  are  distributed  between  the  council  and  the 
executive,  on  the  theory  of  the  separation  of  powers;  that  is, 
that  the  council  is  a  deliberative  body  and  the  executive  is  to 

11 A  borough  is  now  an  urban  district  and  the  borough  council  is  an 
urban  district  or  sanitary  authority. 

!2  Fairlie,  "Municipal  Administration,"  p.  386. 


200  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

execute  its  decisions.  On  the  other  hand,  however,  it  is  to  be 
remembered  that  the  executive  is  accorded  great  influence  over 
the  decisions  of  the  council,  while  the  members  of  the  council 
both  elect  the  members  of  the  executive  and  under  its  direction 
participate  in  the  work  of  administration  through  membership 
on  various  administrative  boards  which  are  at  the  head  of  the 
city  executive  departments. 

The  executive  exercises  a  great  influence  over  legislation  in 
that  it  may  veto  the  acts  of  the  council  both  on  the  ground  of 
illegality  and  inexpediency,  when  the  council  may  appeal  to  a 
higher  state  administrative  authority  against  the  veto.  The  city 
executive  in  Germany  is  an  agent  of  the  state  for  the  enforcement 
of  state  laws  and  has  the  police  ordinance  power  where  the 
police  power  is  exercised  by  a  municipal  authority.  In  its  ca- 
pacity as  such  state  agent  its  acts  independently  of  the  council. 
Largely  as  a  result  of  the  moral  influence  which  it  exercises, 
owing  to  the  professional  character  of  a  portion  of  its  members, 
it  furthers  directs  the  deliberations  of  the  council.  Where  the 
board  system  is  adopted,  and  it  may  be  taken  as  the  typical 
German  form,  the  executive  board  has  really  the  initiation  of 
legislation.  The  German  city  council  is  therefore  largely  an 
authority  of  control.  Initiation  of  new  undertakings,  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  general  scheme  of  German  government,  is 
mostly  left  in  the  hands  of  the  executive. 

The  influence  of  the  council  over  the  executive  and  of  the 
executive  over  legislation  brings  it  about  that  legislative  and  ad- 
ministrative ppwers  are  largely  coordinated.  This  coordina- 
tion tends  to  prevent  the  occurrence  of  those  conflicts  between 
municipal  authorities  which  are  so  disastrous  to  municipal  effi- 
ciency, while  the  power  to  appeal  to  the  higher  authorities  of 
the  state  government  offers  a  means  of  quickly  settling  differ- 
ences which  may  arise. 

The  Continental  Municipal  System — The  Franco-Italian  Form. 
The  Franco-Italian  form  of  municipal  government  resembles 
the  German  in  that  the  law  recognizes  other  municipal  authori- 
ties besides  the  council.  The  law  makes  provision  both  for  a 
council  and  a  number  of  magistrates,  called  in  France  the 
mayor  and  deputies,  in  Italy  the  sindaco  and  assessors,  who 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL  201 

together  in  Italy  form  what  is  called  the  gnmia,  and  are  elected 
by  the  municipal  council.  In  both  France  and  Italy  the  chief 
executive  of  the  city  assigns  to  the  deputies  and  assessors  re- 
spectively the  different  departments  of  municipal  management, 
but  they  attend  to  them  under  his  direction.  In  Italy  the  guinta 
has  certain  independent  functions  of  its  own  to  discharge  and 
seems  to  occupy  a  more  important  position  as  a  permanent 
executive  board  than  do  the  mayor  and  deputies  in  France. 

In  both  France  and  Italy,  while  the  council  has  within  the 
limits  of  the  law,  the  organizing  power,  the  power  of  appoint- 
ment, removal  and  direction  of  the  municipal  officers  and  all  ad- 
ministrative powers  are  vested  in  the  mayor  and  his  deputies  or 
assessors,  the  ultimate  power  being  vested  in  the  mayor.  An  ex- 
ception to  this  statement  must  be  made  in  the  case  of  those 
Italian  cities  which  have  entered  into  the  field  of  municipal 
ownership  since  1903.  In  these  cities  the  management  of  each 
such  enterprise  is  vested  in  a  special  director  who  is  appointed 
by  the  council  and  would  appear  to  be  independent  of  the  sin- 
daco.13 

Finally,  the  fact  that  in  both  countries  the  mayor  is  recog- 
nized for  certain  matters  as  an  agent  of  the  state  government 
and  when  acting  as  such  agent  is  under  the  control  of  the  cen- 
tral administration  makes  him,  as  to  these  matters,  independent 
of  the  council. 

In  both  France  and  Italy  the  council  is  thus  merely  a  legisla- 
tive body,  having  the  power  of  issuing  all  local  ordinances  in 
Italy,  in  France  all  but  police  ordinances  which  are  issued  by  the 
mayor.  The  council  in  both  France  and  Italy  is  therefore  not 
so  important  as  in  England,  although  the  fact  that  the  ex- 
ecutive has  no  veto  power  over  its  action  gives  it  a  greater  legis- 
lative power  than  has  the  council  in  Germany.  The  position  of 
the  council  in  both  France  and  Italy  is  weakened  through  the 
legal  provision  fixing  the  number  of  its  sessions,  in  France  four, 
in  Italy  two,  each  year.  In  the  latter  country,  however,  the 
giunta  is  regarded  as  the  permanent  committee  of  the  council. 
Like  the  German  council  the  French  council  is  largely  an  au- 
thority of  control. 

is  See  infra,  Chap.  XIV. 


202  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

The  American  Municipal  System.  The  third  system  of  munic- 
ipal government,  if  it  may  be  called  such,  is  found  in  the  United 
States.  It  is  difficult  to  speak  of  a  system  of  city  government 
in  this  country  because  of  the  differing  general  laws  in  the 
different  states,  of  the  habit  in  some  states  of  granting  special 
charters  to  special  cities  and  of  the  increasing  number  of  home- 
rule  charters.  The  innovations  contained  in  the  commission 
and  city  manager  forms  have  added  to  the  difficulty  of  making 
generalizations.  Since  the  commission  and  manager  governed 
cities  are  as  yet  comparatively  few,  it  may  still  be  said  that 
in  general  in  the  United  States  the  law  provides  for  two  coordi- 
nate organs,  the  council  and  the  mayor,  both  elected  by  the 
people.  Further,  it  has  come  to  be  the  rule  that  the  heads  of 
departments  are  appointed  not  by  the  council  but  by  the  mayor 
with  the  approval  of  the  council,  or  by  the  mayor  or  some 
other  authority  acting  independently  of  the  council.  The  coun- 
cil is  not,  therefore,  a  body  of  great  importance,  so  far  as 
concerns  its  power  of  filling  city  offices.  Further,  owing  to 
the  special  and  detailed  character  of  municipal  legislation  in 
the  United  States  the  council  has  largely  lost  the  organizing 
power  and  considerable  legislative  power,  which  have  been 
assumed  by  the  state  legislature. 

The  result  is  that  the  council  under  the  most  favorable  cir- 
cumstances is  all  but  shut  out  from  the  exercise  of  any  power 
not  distinctly  legislative  in  character,  all  executive  powers  be- 
ing vested  in  the  mayor  and  executive  officers,  and  that  it  is 
often  much  limited  in  the  exercise  of  legislative  powers.  The 
mere  fact  that  the  charter  regulates  the  Details  of  the  municipal 
organization  takes  away  an  important  power  from  the  council. 
The  legislature  is  often  so  niggardly  in  its  grants  of  power, 
particularly  of  financial  power,  that  it  is  difficult  if  not  impos- 
sible for  the  council  effectively  to  exercise  its  legislative  power. 
In  some  states  also  the  legislature  puts  into  city  charters  pro- 
visions which  regulate  matters  of  local  police  or  vest  police 
powers  in  the  mayor  or  an  executive  department.  The  mayor 
in  almost  all  states  possesses  a  veto  over  the  resolutions  of 
the  council,  which  can  be  overcome  only  by  an  extraordinary 
majority  of  the  council. 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL  203 

With  respect,  then,  to  the  importance  of  the  city  council, 
the  countries  under  consideration  may  be  arranged  in  a  diminish- 
ing scale  beginning  with  England  where  the  council  is  supreme 
and  descending  to  the  United  States  where  it  is  of  least  impor- 
tance. In  the  United  States,  while  the  mayor  is  not  supreme, 
he  with  his  executive  officers  come  very  near  being  so  in  certain 
cities.  This  supremacy  of  the  executive  is  in  most  cases  accom- 
panied by  the  assumption  on  the  part  of  the  state  legislature 
of  the  exercise  of  many  local  powers  which  in  other  countries 
would  belong  to  the  council. 

Constitution  of  Councils. — Everywhere  Elective.  The  ways  in 
which  the  council  is  constituted  in  different  countries  are  as 
varied  as  the  degrees  of  its  importance.  It  is  everywhere,  how- 
ever, based  on  the  elective  principle.  It  is  true  that  by  the 
French  law  of  1800  the  council  was  appointed  by  the  authorities 
of  the  central  government.  This  law  of  1800,  however,  or- 
ganized a  system  of  administration,  generally  so  centralized  that 
real  local  self-government  was  impossible  under  it.  The  city 
was  by  this  law  regarded  as  an  administrative  district  of  the 
state  rather  than  as  a  local  corporation  organized  for  the  satis- 
faction of  local  needs.  The  principle  of  central  appointment 
was  abandoned  in  1831  in  favor  of  election.  It  is  also  true 
that  in  the  City  of  New  York  by  the  charters  in  force  from 
1873  to  1901  an  authority  which  discharged  many  of  the  func- 
tions ordinarily  discharged  by  the  council,  that  is,  the  Board  of 
Estimate  and  Apportionment,  was  composed  of  five  members, 
two  of  whom  were  appointed  by  the  mayor,  the  principal  elec- 
tive officer.14  A  somewhat  similar  plan  is  adopted  in  German 
cities,  where  the  members  of  the  executive  board  are  appointed 
by  the  council,  although  the  executive  board  has  powers  of 
legislation  coordinate  with  those  possessed  by  the  council. 

But  in  general  we  may  say  that  in  all  systems  of  municipal 
government  which  endeavor  to  secure  to  the  city  large  powers 
of  local  self-government  the  council  is  elective.  The  legislations 
of  different  countries  differ,  however,  considerably  as  to  the  de- 
tails of  election.  Either  one  of  two  general  principles  is  adopted, 

i*The  members  of  the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment  are  all 
elected  by  the  municipal  citizens  by  the  provisions  of  the  present  charter. 


204  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

that  is,  total  renewal  or  partial  renewal.  By  the  first,  all  of 
the  members  of  the  council  are  elected  at  the  same  time.  This 
is  the  rule  which  has  been  adopted  in  France  and  generally 
throughout  the  United  States.  Partial  renewal  is  the  rule  in 
England,  Germany  and  Italy. 

District  Representation.  Whether  the  process  be  that  of  total 
or  of  partial  renewal,  the  vote  may  be  by  general  ticket  or  by 
district  ticket.  In  case  it  is  by  the  latter,  the  district  may  be 
a  single  district,  or  it  may  be  represented  by  a  number  of 
council  members.  The  general  ticket  where  no  special  provision 
is  made  is  the  rule  in  France,  in  Italy,  in  England,  and  in 
Germany.  In  the  United  States  the  single  district  is  the  rule. 
In  all  countries  which  adopt  the  general  ticket  it  is,  however, 
provided  that  the  city  may  be  divided  into  districts,  each  of 
which  is  to  elect  a  certain  minimum  number  of  representatives 
on  the  council.  Thus  in  England  the  number  of  members  to 
be  elected  in  each  district  must  not'  be  less  than  three,  one  of 
whom  is  to  be  elected  each  year.  In  France  in  all  of  the  cities 
of  over  10,000  inhabitants  not  less  than  four  members  of  the 
council  are  to  represent  each  district,  while  in  Germany  the 
number  is  to  be  determined  by  some  authority  of  the  central 
government.  Where  such  a  departure  from  the  principle  of 
the  general  ticket  is  permitted  the  actual  districts  which  are 
formed  are  formed  as  a  result  of  the  concurrent  action  of 
the  local  and  the  central  authorities.  Thus  in  England  the  dis- 
tricts are  made  by  the  council  by  a  two-thirds  vote,  subject  to 
the  approval  of  the  central  government  at  London.  In  France 
the  districts  are  made  by  the  general  council  of  the  depart- 
ment, a  board  similar  to  the  board  of  supervisors  in  certain 
American  states,  on  the  initiation  of  a  general  councillor,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  city  council  or  the  prefect  of  the  department  as 
agent  of  the  central  government,  or  on  the  petition  of  the  elec- 
tors of  the  city  concerned.  In  France  the  districts  are  made 
only  after  an  investigation  has  been  made  of  the  matter.  In 
Prussia,  where  the  matter  is  left  largely  to  the  city  to  deter- 
mine, the  city  council  decides  whether  the  district  plan  shall 
be  adopted,  the  general  ticket  being  otherwise  the  rule.  If 
the  council  determines  to  adopt  it,  the  city  executive  makes 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL  205 

the  apportionment,  fixing  not  only  the  limits  of  the  districts 
but  also  the  number  of  members  to  be  elected  from  each  district. 
The  executive  must,  however,  observe  the  rule  that  all  voters 
are  to  be  as  far  as  possible  equally  represented. 

(The  purpose  of  the  adoption  of  the  district  plan  is  to  secure 
either  local  representation  or  minority  representation  or  both. 
The  necessity  of  securing  local  representation  is  present  only  in 
the  larger  cities  but  there  some  recognition  of  locality  is  highly 
desirable  since  in  large  cities  real  differences  in  interests  exist 
between  localities.  In  small  cities  the  need  of  such  recognition 
exists  only  to  a  slight  degree  if  at  all.  In  all  cities,  however, 
it  is  desirable  to  secure  minority  representation,  or  at  any  rate 
to  secure  on  the  council  an  opposing  minority.  It  is  only 
through  the  clash  of  diverse  opinions  that  the  best  conclusions  as 
to  any  matter  are  reached.  It  is  impossible  to  secure  these 
diverse  opinions  under  the  general  ticket  system  where  all  of  the 
members  of  the  council  are  elected  at  the  same  time  unless  some 
system  of  minority  representation  is  provided.  It  is  possible  to 
reach  the  same  result  under  a  district  ticket,  although  the  dis- 
trict ticket  will  not  assure  it.  Thus  in  New  York,  under  a  single 
district  system,  one  party  secured  every  seat  in  the  city  council 
at  the  elections  of  1892.  At  this  election  166,000  votes  elected 
all  members  of  the  council,  although  there  was  a  minority  vote 
of  nearly  100,000.  But  as  a  general  thing  a  single  district 
system  will  secure  an  opposing  minority  in  the  council. 

Minority  Representation. — Limited  and  Cumulative  Voting1. 
The  liability  that  the  district  system  will  not  secure  minority 
representation  and  the  certainty  that  a  general  ticket  will  not 
secure  it  have  led  to  the  agitation  for  the  adoption  of  some 
system  of  minority  representation.  The  plans  which  have  been 
proposed  for  minority  representation  may  be  classed  under  three 
heads;  namely,  limited  voting,  cumulative  voting,  and  propor- 
tional representation.  Under  the  first,  a  voter  is  not  permitted 
to  vote  for  all  places  in  the  council  to  be  filled  at  the  election. 
This  plan  is  adopted  in  Italy  where  every  voter  may  vote  for 
only  four-fifths  of  the  number  of  councillors  to  be  elected,  and 
has  been  tried  in  Boston  and  in  New  York.  There  are,  however, 
serious  doubts  as  to  its  constitutionality  under  the  ordinary 


206  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

provisions  in  the  American  state  constitutions;  and  it  has  gen- 
erally been  abandoned  where  it  has  been  adopted  in  the  United 
States,  for  under  it  a  nomination  for  office  by  a  party  of  any 
considerable  strength  could  easily  be  made  equivalent  to  an 
election. 

Cumulative  voting,  sometimes  spoken  of  as  ' '  free  voting, ' ' 15 
consists  in  giving  the  voter  as  many  votes  as  there  are  places 
to  be  filled  and  in  permitting  him  to  distribute  his  votes  as 
he  sees  fit.  This  method  of  voting  has  been  adopted  in  the 
Illinois  constitution  for  elections  to  the  lower  house  of  the  state 
legislature  and  to  the  councils  of  some  cities  in  the  state. 
Though  this  method  is  probably  constitutional  under  the 
ordinary  American  state  constitutions  experience  has  shown 
serious  objections  to  the  cumulative  system.  Usually  by  mutual 
agreement  the  places  to  be  filled  are  apportioned  between  the 
leading  parties  according  to  their  ordinary  voting  strength  and 
nominations  are  made  by  each  party  only  for  the  number  of 
places  assigned  them  by  this  agreement.  Nomination  is  then 
practically  equivalent  to  an  election.  On  account  of  the  con- 
centration of  votes  on  a  popular  candidate,  there  may  result  the 
election  of  a  majority  of  the  candidates  by  a  minority  of  the 
voters.  Party  organization  and  discipline  must  be  very  strong 
to  secure  a  proper  distribution  of  the  votes.  At  the  same  time 
its  friends  point  to  the  fact  that  cumulative  voting  does  secure 
minority  representation.  They  show  that  the  dangers  of  too 
great  concentration  may  be  avoided  by  not  permitting  cumula- 
tion of  votes  beyond  a  certain  number.  In  the  case  of  municipal 
elections  this  may  be  secured  by  the  abandonment  of  the  general 
ticket  and  the  establishment  of  districts  in  which  no  more  than 
three  or  five  members  are  to  be  elected.  It  is  further  urged 
that  cumulative  voting  has  the  great  practical  advantages  that 
the  system  is  simple  of  operation  and  easy  to  be  understood 
by  the  average  voter. 

Minority  Representation. — Proportional  Representation.  A 
third  plan  for  securing  minority  representation  is  known 
as  proportional  representation.  The  advocates  of  this  plan  be- 

16  Eaton,  "Government  of  Municipalities." 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL  207 

lieve  that  the  interests  of  the  city  will  be  better  served  by  a 
council  composed  of  representatives  of  several  different  groups 
or  interests  in  the  community  than  by  a  united  majority  op- 
posed by  a  united  minority,  each  representing  a  single  group 
or  point  of  view.  The  purpose  of  proportional  representation 
is  to  enable  every  considerable  group  of  voters  in  the  com- 
munity, if  they  so  desire,  to  secure  representation  in  the  body 
to  be  elected.  Several  systems  of  proportional  representation 
have  been  devised,  chief  among  which  are  the  "Hare"  and  the 
"list"  systems.  The  most  mathematically  exact  and  the  one 
preferred  for  cities  by  those  favoring  proportional  representa- 
tion is  the  Hare  system,  but  its  adoption  had  been  retarded 
by  its  seeming  complexity.16 

Proportional  representation  under  the  Hare  system  is  at 
present  growing  in  favor  in  the  United  States  and  therefore  may 
be  examined  in  some  detail.  Neither  the  Hare  nor  any  other 
system  of  proportional  representation  is  practicable  if  less  than 
five  candidates  are  to  be  voted  for.  Hence  district  representa- 
tion is  abandoned  and  city  councils  are  elected  by  general 
ticket.  Nomination  by  petition,  in  order  to  avoid  the  necessity 
of  primaries,  is  advocated  but  is  not  necessary.  The  names  of 
the  candidates,  however  nominated,  are  arranged  in  a  single 
column  with  or  without  party  or  other  designation.  The  voter 
marks  his  ballot  in  the  square  beside  the  name,  indicating  by 
figures,  1,  2,  3,  etc.,  his  first,  second,  third  and  other  choices, 
expressing  as  many  choices  as  he  pleases.  In  counting  the  vote 
the  electoral  quota,  or  smallest  number  of  votes  that  will  ensure 
the  election  of  a  candidate,  is  first  determined.  Every  candi- 
date securing  first  choice  votes  equal  in  number  to  the  quota 
is  declared  elected.  At  the  same  time  an  equal  number  of 
candidates  having  the  fewest  first  choice  votes  are  dropped  from 
the  count  as  hopeless.  Thereupon  the  surplus  first  choice  votes 

i«  The  Hare  system  is  in  use  for  parliamentary  elections  in  South  Africa 
and  Tasmania  and  is  provided  for  in  the  Home  Rule  Act  for  Ireland. 
For  municipal  elections  it  is  used  in  one  or  more  cities  in  the  Transvaal, 
New  Zealand,  British  Columbia,  and  Alberta.  In  1915  it  was  adopted  in 
Ashtabula,  Ohio;  in  1917  in  Boulder,  Colorado,  and  in  1918  in  Kalamazoo, 
Michigan. 


208  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

for  the  several  candidates  just  declared  elected  and  the  votes 
showing  first  choice  for  the  candidates  just  dropped  are  in- 
spected and  transferred  to  other  candidates  in  accordance  with 
the  second  choices  expressed  thereon.  The  transferred  votes 
are  added  to  the  first  choice  votes  of  the  candidates  to  whom 
they  were  transferred.  This  process  of  dropping  the  person 
having  the  lowest  vote,  transferring  votes  and  counting  is  re- 
peated until  a  sufficient  number  of  persons  have  secured  votes 
equal  to  the  quota  to  fill  the  whole  number  of  places. 

Under  the  list  system  the  voter  is  confined  to  the  candidates 
put  in  nomination,  and  must,  as  a  rule,  vote  a  straight  party 
ticket.17  The  number  of  votes  cast  is  divided  by  the  number 
of  persons  to  be  elected,  the  result  being  known  as  the  electoral 
quotient.  The  number  of  votes  cast  by  each  party  is  divided 
by  the  electoral  quotient,  the  result  being  the  number  of  candi- 
dates elected  by  each  party,  those  being  chosen  who  stand  the 
first  on  the  party  list.  In  the  case  of  fractions  left  over  after 
such  division  two  rules  have  been  adopted :  one  gives  preference 
to  the  party  having  the  largest  fraction,  the  other  to  the  party 
casting  the  highest  number  of  votes.  The  latter  is  deemed  pref- 
erable, inasmuch  as  the  system  of  "forced  fractions,"  as  it  is 
called,  sometimes  leads,  where  few  offices  are  to  be  filled,  to  the 
election  of  a  majority  of  the  candidates  by  a  minority  of  the 
voters. 

The  main  objections  which  have  been  offered  to  proportional 
representation  are  three  in  number.  First,  It  has  been  said  that 
the  complexity  of  the  system  would  lead  to  the  invalidating  of 
many  ballots  and  to  unwarranted  delay  in  determining  the  re- 
sults of  the  election.  While  from  the  limited  use  in  this  coun- 
try of  the  system  it  would  appear  that  the  number  of  spoiled 
ballots  is,  at  the  outset,  larger  than  usual,  the  anticipated  delay 
in  counting  has  not  occurred.  Second,  It  is  asserted  that  it 
would  be  difficult  to  convince  even  intelligent  voters  who  had 
not  made  a  detailed  study  of  the  system  that  the  announced 
results  were  in  conformity  with  the  actual  vote  cast.  It  is 

17  The  "list"  system  has  found  application  in  parliamentary  elections  in 
Switzerland,  Denmark,  Belgium,  Sweden,  Finland,  Iceland,  Bulgaria,  Wiir- 
temburg,  Holland,  and  in  Russia  for  the  Constituent  Convention. 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL  209 

probably  true  that  for  a  time  at  least  the  results  would  have 
to  be  taken  on  faith  by  a  large  number  of  voters.  Third,  It 
is  said  that  even  if  the  results  claimed  by  its  advocates  are 
obtained,  the  body  elected  under  it,  having  no  bond  of  cohesion 
to  bind  them  together,  would  become  a  debating  society  rather 
than  a  body  capable  of  political  action.  Such  objectors  believe 
that  what  is  desired  in  the  way  of  minority  representation  is 
not  so  much  a  body  in  which  every  shade  of  existing  opinion 
is  represented,  as  a  body  which,  while  possessing  a  majority 
capable  of  political  action,  has  at  the  same  time  a  minority 
capable  of  opposing  and  causing  a  modification  of  the  results 
desired  by  the  majority.  This  is  the  result  secured  usually  by 
both  the  single  district  system  and  by  the  system  of  cumulative 
voting. 

Whatever  the  system  of  representation  employed,  in  most 
cases  a  plurality  of  the  votes  cast  elects,  but  in  France  and 
Germany  a  majority  is  necessary  to  elect  on  the  first  ballot. 
If  this  is  not  secured  another  ballot  is  taken  when  a  plurality 
elects.  In  Germany  the  voter  at  the  second  election  must  vote 
for  one  of  the  two  candidates  receiving  the  largest  number 
of  votes  at  the  first  election.18 

Term  of  Council  Members.  The  term  of  council  members  bears 
a  close  connection  with  the  subject  which  has  just  been  con- 
sidered. If  the  principle  of  partial  renewal  is  adopted,  as  is 
usually  the  case,  the  term  is  two,  three,  five  or  six  years,  so  that 
the  council  may  be  renewed  by  halves,  by  thirds,  or  by  fifths. 
Thus  in  England  the  councillors  have  a  term  of  three  years,  one- 
third  of  the  number  being  elected  each  year.  In  Germany  gen- 
erally the  term  is  six  years,  one-third  of  the  members  being 
elected  every  two  years,  while  in  Italy  the  term  is  five  years, 
one-fifth  of  the  number  of  the  council  being  elected  every  year. 
Where  the  principle  of  total  renewal  at  one  election  is  adopted 
the  usual  term  varies  from  one  year  as  in  Boston  to  four  years 
as  in  St.  Louis.  The  average  term  in  the  United  States  is  two 
years,  as  in  New  York. 

Classes  of  Members.  The  council  sometimes  consists  of  two 
classes  of  members.  These  may  sit  as  two  separate  chambers 

is  Hatton,  "Digest  of  City  Charters,"  p.  58. 


210  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

though  the  general  rule  is  that  whether  of  one  or  two  classes 
they  sit  as  a  single  chamber.  The  only  exceptions  to  the  one 
chamber  rule  are  a  minority  of  American  cities  which  still 
follow  the  analogy  of  the  state  and  federal  legislatures.  In 
Italy  the  giunta  and  in  Germany  the  executive  board  of  magis- 
trates performs  some  of  the  functions  of  a  second  chamber. 
In  England,  however,  though  sitting  as  one  chamber,  the  council 
is  composed  of  two  classes :  the  councillors  elected  by  the  munic- 
ipal citizens  for  three  years,  and  the  aldermen  elected  by  the 
councillors  for  a  term  of  six  years.  This  principle  is  also  ap- 
plied, though  rarely,  in  the  United  States,  and  in  such  cases  it  is 
common  that  the  aldermen  are  elected  at  large  while  the  council- 
men  are  selected  by  districts. 

Number  of  Members.  A  word  should  be  said  as  to  the  size  of 
the  council  before  closing  what  is  to  be  said  concerning  its 
composition.  There  is  very  little  agreement  in  this  matter, 
either  between  the  plans  adopted  in  the  United  States  and 
those  adopted  in  Europe,  or  between  those  adopted  in  the  dif- 
ferent cities,  of  the  United  States.  The  number  varies  from 
four  hundred  in  Buda-Pesth  to  nine  in  Boston.  Under  the 
charter  granted  in  1907,  the  city  of  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  was 
given  a  council  of  195  members,  39  of  whom  were  to  be  chosen 
from  each  of  five  wards.  13  were  to  be  chosen  each  year  from 
each  of  the  wards  for  a  term  of  three  years. 

Belation  of  Composition  to  Self -Government.  The  idea  of  self- 
government  entertained  in  a  country  appears  to  have  its  effect 
on  the  size,  term,  and  mode  of  renewal  of  city  councils.  If 
the  prevailing  conception  of  self-government  is  a  government 
by  the  people  of  the  city  in  their  own  interest  and  through  the 
selection  of  persons  from  among  their  own  number  who  are  not  in 
politics  for  a  livelihood,  but  who  are  at  the  same  time  that 
they  are  discharging  municipal  functions  making  their  living 
out  of  some  other  occupation,  then  the  council  is  larger,  serves 
for  a  longer  term  and  is  only  partially  renewed  at  each  election.19 

i»  As  to  the  effect  on  local  self-government  of  a  large  council,  see  articles 
in  Proceedings  of  the  National  Municipal  League,  1907;  Munro,  "The 
Galveston  Plan,"  p.  142;  Chadwick,  "The  Newport  Plan,"  p.  166,  and 
Sikes,  "How  Chicago  is  Winning  Good  Government." 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL  211 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  self-government  means  that  the  govern- 
ment is  administered  by  officers  who  are  to  a  considerable  extent 
professional  politicians  or  professional  administrators  adminis- 
tering laws  made  largely  by  state  authority,  then  the  council 
tends  to  become  smaller,  the  term  shorter  and  renewal  complete 
at  each  election. 

The  English  system  may  be  taken  as  an  example  of  the  first 
type.  Here  in  the  larger  cities  the  council  consists  of  from 
eighty  to  one  hundred  members.  The  city  is  divided  into  dis- 
tricts and  the  terms  of  the  members  of  the  council  are  such 
that  every  district  will  elect  one  member  at  each  annual  election, 
and  that  at  such  election  one-third  of  the  total  number  of  the 
councillors  will  be  chosen.  This  council  is  divided  up  into  com- 
mittees, each  of  which  has  charge  of  some  one  branch  of  munic- 
ipal administration.  The  number  of  the  council  members  being 
large,  committee  work  can  be  so  distributed  among  the, members 
that  each  member  can  do  his  share  without  being  overburdened. 
It  is  possible  under  such  a  system  to  make  service  as  a  council 
member  unpaid,  inasmuch  as  each  council  member  can  obtain  his 
livelihood  from  his  ordinary  vocation,  and  also  to  make  it  com- 
pulsory, inasmuch  as  a  large  part  of  a  man's  time  is  not  re- 
quired for  his  public  work.  The  system  adopted  in  Germany, 
which  produces  the  same  result,  is  based  on  the  same  principle, 
that  is,  of  large  councils,  long  terms  and  partial  renewals,  and 
lays  great  emphasis  on  compulsory,  unpaid  service. 

The  French  and  American  systems,  perhaps,  exemplify  the 
second  type  less  markedly  and  do  so,  too,  to  varying  degrees. 
In  both  countries  the  number  of  councillors  is  smaller  than  in 
cities  of  equal  size  in  England  or  Germany.  The  term  in 
France  is  four  years  as  compared  with  the  American  average 
of  two  years.  The  longer  term  in  France  is  due,  in  some 
measure  at  least,  to  the  more  exalted  place  which  the  council 
holds  in  that  country  both  in  the  work  of  actual  government 
and  in  the  esteem  of  the  public.  The  difference  between  the 
Franco-American  plan  of  total  renewal  and  the  Anglo-German 
plan  of  partial  renewal  is  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  under 
the  first  the  members  of  the  council  as  members  are  more  or 
less  confined  to  deliberative  business^  while  under  the  second, 


212  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

the  members  in  other  capacities  such  as  members  of  committees 
do  a  great  deal  of  administrative  work.  In  the  United  States 
alone  are  the  members  of  the  council  paid  for  their  services. 

Qualifications  of  Councillors.  As  a  general  rule  special  quali- 
fications for  membership  in  the  council  are  required.  Sometimes 
they  do  not  permit  of  the  election  of  every  voter,  and  sometimes, 
though  not  often,  they  permit  of  the  election  of  persons  who  are 
not  voters.  The  usual  qualification  is  a  property  one,  which 
may  be  evidenced  either  by  the  payment  of  taxes  or  the  owner- 
ship of  property.  Such  qualifications  are  regarded  as  consti- 
tutional under  the  ordinary  provisions  of  the  American  state 
constitutions,  although  they  are  not  as  a  matter  of  fact  so  com- 
mon in  the  United  States  as  in  Europe.  In  America,  as  a  general 
rule,  every  voter  is  qualified.  In  England  all  taxpayers,  whether 
voters  or  not,  are  eligible  if  they  live  within  fifteen  miles  of 
the  borough.  The  French  non-resident  taxpayer,  if  a  voter,  may 
be  a  councillor  provided  that  not  more  than  one-fourth  of  the 
whole  number  are  non-resident.  Prussia  requires  that  at  least 
one-half  of  the  council  be  house  owners. 

Character  of  Councils. — Attitude  of  Voters.  A  satisfactory 
conclusion  as  to  the  real  position  of  the  city  council  in  different 
countries  cannot  be  reached  merely  from  a  consideration  of  the 
law  with  regard  to  its  composition.  The  real  position  of  the 
council  is  determined  rather,  by  the  attitude  and  habits  of  the 
municipal  voters  with  respect  to  the  election  of  council  members. 
The  attitude  of  the  voters  even  under  a  suffrage  which  lays 
little  stress  on  property  qualifications  may  be  of  such  a  charac- 
ter as  to  bring  into  office  as  council  members  men  who  from  a 
social  point  of  view  belong  to  a  much  higher  class  than  that 
of  the  voters  who  elect  them.  If  this  is  the  case  the  system  of 
government  while  in  theory  quite  democratic  will  be  in  essence 
aristocratic.  This  is  largely  the  case  in  England  where  there 
exists  a  class  feeling  whose  influences  are  to  an  American  diffi- 
cult of  comprehension.  As  a  result  of  this  class  feeling  there  is 
a  deference  on  the  part  of  large  masses  of  the  population  to 
what  are  recognized  as  the  upper  classes  which  makes  voters 
willing  if  not  eager  to  obtain  members  from  these  classes  to 
represent  them  in  the  city  government.  If,  on  the  other  hand, 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL  213 

no  such  social  feeling  exists  the  attitude  of  the  voter  seems  to 
be  such  that  the  possession  of  wealth  and  social  distinction 
actually  tends  to  disqualify  one  for  successful  candidacy  for  the 
city  council.  This  attitude  of  the  voter  merely  reflects  the 
distinction  between  the  social  aristoc'racy  of  England  and  Ger- 
many and  the  social  democracy  of  France  and  the  United  States. 
England  and  the  United  States  exemplify  best,  perhaps,  these 
contrasting  characteristics. 

Character  of  Council  in  England.  A  typical  instance  of  the  con- 
ditions due  to  this  attitude  of  the  municipal  voters  in  England  is 
to  be  found  in  the  City  of  Liverpool.  Liverpool  was  in  1906 
divided  into  thirty-five  wards.  Thirty-four  of  these  wards  were 
represented  by  one  alderman  and  three  councillors  for  each 
ward;  one  ward  was  represented  by  only  one  councillor.  The 
council  in  1906  consisted  therefore  of  one  hundred  thirty-seven 
members.  Of  these  one  hundred  thirty-seven  only  twenty-five 
lived  in  the  wards  they  represented,  while  one  hundred  and 
twelve  lived  outside  the  wards  which  elected  them  as  their  repre- 
sentatives in  the  council,  or  to  which  as  aldermen  they  had  been 
assigned.  Of  these  one  hundred  and  twelve  fifty  lived  outside 
the  limits  of  the  city.  These  fifty  were  all  of  the  upper  business 
and  professional  classes.  Furthermore,  forty-four  other  mem- 
bers of  the  council  lived  in  the  six  richest  residential  wards  of 
the  city.  With  the  fifty  living  outside  of  the  city  there  were 
thus  in  all  ninety-four  members  of  the  council  who  lived  in 
the  better  residential  districts  within  or  without  the  city  limits. 
The  degree  to  which  the  poorer  classes  of  the  community  are 
represented  by  members  of  the  wealthier  classes  becomes  ap- 
parent when  we  compare  the  working  class  wards  with  the 
richer  residential  wards.  Twenty  of  the  wards  may  be  described 
as  working  el  ass  wai^s  including  at  one  extreme  the  slums  and 
at  the  oth£?  the  districts  in  which  reside  the  upper  grades  of 
artisans.  In  1906  of  the  eighty  aldermen  and  councillors  ac- 
credited to  these  wards  only  eight  lived  in  the  wards  they  repre- 
sented, and  of  the  seventy-two  who  lived  outside  the  wards  they 
represented  fifty-three  lived  in  the  six  richest  residential  wards 
of  the  suburbs.  On  the  other  hand,  of  the  twenty-eight  repre- 
sentatives of  the  seven  residential  wards  occupied  by  the  middle 


214  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

and  richest  classes  sixteen  lived  in  the  wards  they  represented 
and  only  twelve  outside.  These  outsiders  lived  in  other  wards 
or  in  the  suburbs  among  people  of  the  same  social  standing  as 
those  they  represented.  Thus  while  the  strictly  working  class 
wards  were  entitled  to  eighty  representatives  two-thirds  of  these 
representatives  resided  in  the  residential  wards  and  suburbs, 
while  the  people  of  the  residential  wards  which  were  entitled 
only  to  twenty-eight  representatives  elected  practically  all  of 
such  representatives  from  among  their  own  neighbors.  Finally, 
there  were  two  strictly  business  and  commercial  wards  repre- 
sented by  business  men. 

The  council  of  the  City  of  Liverpool  is  thus  in  the  control  of 
the  richer  classes  of  the  community.  A  few  members  of  the 
council  were  in  1906  described  as  "very  rich  men";  at  least  one 
hundred  of  the  one  hundred  and  thirty-seven  members  were  said 
to  be  "  fairly  well  to  do, "  or  "  moderately  wealthy ' ' ;  only  about 
twenty  were  described  as  "poor  men."  Another  census  of  the 
council  brought  out  the  fact  that  it  contained  thirty-nine  whole- 
sale and  retail  merchants,  twelve  brokers  and  agents,  nine  manu- 
facturers, twelve  lawyers,  eleven  building  employers,  five  trades 
unionists  and  socialists  and  fifteen  engaged  in  the  liquor  busi- 
ness. Nearly  all  of  these  fifteen  were,  however,  manufacturing 
brewers  and  not  retail  liquor  dealers.  In  a  word  it  may  be  said 
then  that  the  members  of  the  council  of  the  City  of  Liverpool 
were  in  1906  to  the  extent  of  two-thirds  large  and  small  busi- 
ness men  and  employers  of  labor  and  to  the  extent  of  one-fifth 
professional  men  whose  associations  were  with  business  men. 
What  is  true  of  Liverpool  is  just  as  true  of  most  other  British 
cities. 

The  fact  that  much  the  larger  portion  of  the  municipal  council- 
lors in  Great  Britain  are  not  residents  of  the  wards  they  repre- 
sent attracts  scarcely  any  attention  among  the  voters.  In  choos- 
ing as  their  representatives  persons  recognized  not  to  be  of 
their  own  class  the  voters  are  probably  not  consciously  actuated 
by  the  desire  to  honor  those  whom  they  deem  to  be  their  bet- 
ters. On  the  contrary  in  many  if  not  most  cases  they  are  in 
all  probability  governed  by  the  belief  that  in  thus  acting  they 
are  securing  more  efficient  representatives  than  could  be  secured 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL  215 

from  among  those  of  their  own  class  who  reside  in  the  district. 
For  to  be  influential  in  English  political  life  a  man  must  be 
socially  presentable  and  if  possible  well  connected.  Sidney 
Low 20  has  pointed  out  how  small  is  the  class  which  is  politically 
influential  in  Great  Britain  and  how  difficult  it  is  for  a  man  to 
become  politically  eminent  who  is  not  by  birth  or  education 
capable  of  so  comporting  himself  as  to  be  welcome  to  that  class. 
If  one  is  not  thus  welcome  it  is  difficult  if  not  impossible  for 
him  to  obtain  access  to  those  in  control  of  the  government. 
While  what  Mr.  Low  says  is  unquestionably  more  pertinent 
to  imperial  than  to  municipal  politics  it  is  none  the  less  true 
that  his  remarks  have  an  application  to  municipal  politics. 
For  as  a  result  of  that  desire,  which  would  seem  to  be  com- 
mon to  all  men,  to  imitate  what  they  admire,  those  in  control 
of  the  city,  although  not  of  the  recognized  aristocratic  class,  do 
not  fail  to  be  influenced  by  aristocratic  ideas;  they  thus  strive 
to  carry  on  their  municipal  business  by  methods  and  according 
to  standards  which  conduce  to  great  official  dignity  and  decorum. 
One  of  the  results  of  this  course  on  their  part  is  that  it  is 
difficult  if  not  impossible  for  a  poor  man  who  may  be  elected  to 
the  city  council  to  keep  the  pace  believed  to  be  necessary  by  his 
fellow  representatives.  This  difficulty  is  naturally  increased  by 
the  fact  that  while  conscientious  service  by  a  municipal  council- 
lor absorbs  a  great  deal  of  time  it  is  absolutely  unremunerated. 
Notwithstanding  this  gratuitous  character  of  the  service  of  the 
city  councillor  it  is  possible  to  secure  good  men  in  the  councils 
because  of  the  belief  that  successful  service  for  the  municipality 
will  be  rewarded  by  a  personal  and  social  distinction  which  can 
with  difficulty  be  secured  in  any  other  way. 

Another  characteristic  of  the  British  municipal  councils, 
which  is  also  due  to  extra-legal  rather  than  to  legal  conditions, 
is  that  the  council  is  comparatively  permanent  in  its  member- 
ship. Ke-elections  of  councillors  are  very  frequent.  It  is  not 
uncommon  to  find  members  of  these  bodies  who  have  served  ten, 
fifteen  or  even  twenty  years.  Their  re-election  is  facilitated  by 
the  provisions  of  the  election  law  which  make  unnecessary  a  re- 
sort to  the  polls  in  districts  which  are  not  contested,  i.  e.,  dis- 

20  Low,  "Governance  of  England." 


216  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

tricts  in  which  only  one  candidate  is  nominated.  Uncontested 
elections  are  not  infrequent  in  the  case  of  members  of  a  council 
who  have  represented  their  district  satisfactorily  to  the  voters, 
and  are  not  unknown  in  case  of  first  ^elections.  In  1906  there 
was  a  member  of  the  council  of  one  of  the  large  British  cities 
who  had  been  in  the  council  more  than  twenty  years  and  against 
whom  an  opposing  candidate  had  never  been  nominated  during 
that  time. 

What  has  been  said  of  the  composition  of  the  councils  and  of 
the  length  of  service  of  council  members  is  just  as  true  of  the 
committees  of  the  council  which  manage  the  various  branches 
of  municipal  administration.  Thus,  in  the  City  of  Birmingham, 
of  the  eight  members  of  the  Gas  Committee  only  one  lived,  in 
the  year  1906,  in  the  ward  he  represented;  six  lived  outside  of 
the  city  limits  in  one  of  the  aristocratic  suburbs.  Every  one  of 
these  eight  members  represented  a  strictly  working  class  ward. 
The  chairman  was  one  of  the  leading  business  men  of  the  city 
and  had  for  thirteen  years  been  a  member  of  the  committee. 
Four  others  were  also  leading  manufacturers  in  the  city  and  had 
served  in  the  council  for  terms  varying  from  three  to  fifteen 
years. 

In  Glasgow  in  the  same  year  nine  of  the  committee-men  had 
served  two  years ;  seven,  three  years ;  eight,  four  years ;  six,  five 
years;  nine,  six  years;  one,  seven  years;  one,  eight  years;  one, 
nine  years ;  three,  ten  years ;  two,  eleven  years ;  two,  twelve  years ; 
one,  thirteen  years ;  one,  fourteen  years ;  seven,  fifteen  years ;  two, 
eighteen  years ;  two,  twenty  years ;  three,  twenty-one  years ;  two, 
twenty-four  years ;  and  three,  twenty-five  years.21 

Character  of  Council  in  Germany.  The  character  of  the  mem- 
bers of  German  city  councils  has  been  much  like  that  of  council 
members  in  England.  Merchants,  manufacturers  and  members 
of  the  learned  professions  formed  a  large  proportion  of  the  mem- 
bership.22 Re-elections  also  have  been  quite  common.23  It 

2iGoodnow,  "The  British  Municipality,"  National  Civic  Federation  Re- 
port on  Municipal  and  Private  Operation  of  Public  Utilities,  Part  I,  Vol. 
I,  p.  43. 

22  Schriften  des  Vereins  fur  Socialpolitik,  Vol.  118,  pp.  42,  114. 
p.  119. 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL  217 

should  also  be  remembered  that  the  law  has  prescribed  that  one- 
half  of  the  members  must  be  house  owners,  while  as  a  matter  of 
fact  this  number  was  often  exceeded.24 

Character  of  Council  in  the  United  States.  In  the  United 
States,  on  the  contrary,  the  democratic  character  of  the  municipal 
council,  due  to  the  adoption  of  the  principle  of  manhood  suffrage, 
is  increased  rather  than  decreased  by  the  attitude  of  the  voters. 
In  1895  Mayor  Matthews  of  Boston  collected  some  definite  facts 
as  to  the  social  standing  and  character  of  persons  elected  to  the 
council  of  the  City  of  Boston.  "He  presented  statistics  show- 
ing that  during  the  first  fifty  years  after  the  creation  of  the  city 
government,  in  1822,  from  eighty-five  to  ninety-five  per  cent  of 
the  council  were  owners  of  property  assessed  for  taxation,  but 
after  1875  the  proportion  had  rapidly  declined  and  in  1895  less 
than  30  per  cent  of  the  council  members  were  property  owners. 
Not  only  had  the  percentage  of  property  owners  declined  but  the 
total  assessed  value  of  property  owned  by  council  members, 
which  had  been  $986,400  in  1822  and  $2,300,400  in  1875,  had 
fallen  to  $372,000  in  1894."  25 

In  the  United  States  the  people  not  only  seem  to  prefer  to  elect 
persons  owning  little  or  no  property  to  the  council,  but  they 
also  seem  to  prefer  to  change  their  representatives  in  the  council 
very  frequently.  The  result  is  a  rather  short  term  of  service 
which  is  favored  both  by  the  failure  to  re-elect  and  by  the  short 
term  for  which  a  council  member  is  at  any  given  time  elected. 
From  1836  to  1900  there  had  been  in  "Newark,  N.  J.,  a  total  of 
five  hundred  and  sixty-nine  aldermen.  Of  these,  three  hundred 
and  forty-two,  about  sixty  per  cent,  had  held  the  position  for  two 
years  or  less;  forty-nine  had  served  for  three  years,  and  one 
hundred  and  seventeen  for  four  years.  Only  sixty-one,  or  a 
little  over  ten  per  cent,  had  served  for  more  than  four  years 
and  forty  of  these  had  only  two  years  additional.  Of  the  re- 
maining twenty-one,  seventeen  were  aldermen  from  seven  to  ten 
years ;  and  the  four  holding  records  for  longest  service  held  the 
position  for  thirteen,  fourteen,  sixteen  and  twenty-two  years 

**lUd.,  p.  115. 

25  Fairlie,  "American  Municipal  Councils,"  Political  Science  Quarterly 
Vol.  XIX,  p.  242. 


218  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

respectively.  The  St.  Louis  House  of  Delegates  of  1899-1901 
had  among  its  twenty-eight  members  but  eight  who  had  served 
in  the  previous  house  and  only  two  who  had  a  longer  term  of 
service.  One  of  these  two,  however,  had  been  a  member  of  the 
House  for  fourteen  years.  The  Cincinnati  Board  of  Legislation 
in  1900,  out  of  thirty-one  members,  had  four  who  were  also  on 
the  board  in  1895.  The  Cleveland  council  of  1901-02  had  not 
a  single  member  who  was  on  the  council  in  1895. 

' '  The  Chicago  Council  in  recent  years  shows  a  large  proportion 
of  re-elections.  Of  the  thirty-five  members  whose  terms  expired 
in  the  spring  of  1902  twenty-two  (nearly  two-thirds)  were  re- 
elected.  .  .  .  Seven  have  served  for  six  years,  four  for  eight 
years,  and  one  member  has  been  in  the  council  for  fourteen  years. 
At  the  council  election  of  Detroit  in  1901  seven  of  the  seventeen 
members  chosen  were  re-elected. ' ' 26 

It  seems  scarcely  probable  that  an  investigation  of  conditions 
at  the  present  time  would  reveal  any  increase  in  the  proportion 
of  re-elections  in.  the  cities  of  the  United  States. 

Character  of  Council  in  France.  The  character  of  the  French 
city  councils  would  appear  to  be  somewhat  the  same  as  that  of 
city  councils  in  the  United  States.  M.  Berthelemy  says : 27  "Most 
of  the  great  French  cities  are  administered  by  assemblies  com- 
posed for  the  most  part  of  persons  unequal  to  the  task  which  they 
undertake,  and  sometimes  of  a  doubtful  morality.  The  unfor- 
tunately general  and  very  partisan  political  character  of  French 
municipal  elections  has  consequences  most  regrettable. 

' '  These  are,  in  the  first  place,  the  exclusion  of  all  special  repre- 
sentation of  important  interests  even  where  these  interests  are 
imperilled. 

' '  They  are,  in  the  second  place,  that  taxes  and  loans  are  voted 
by  the  representatives  of  persons  who  by  reason  of  poverty  do 
not  feel  their  burden  and  are  only  indirectly  affected  by  an  in- 
crease of  debt.  .  .  . 

"Another  unfortunate  result  of  the  political  character  of  mu- 
nicipal councils  is  to  be  found  in  their  instability. ' ' 

26  Fairlie,  "American  Municipal  Councils,"  Political  Science  Quarterly, 
Vol.  XIX,  p.  236. 

27  Schriften  des  Vereina  fur  Socialpolitik,  Vol.  CXXIII,  p.  170. 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL  219 

Powers  of  Council.  The  powers  of  the  council  depend  first 
upon  the  relation  of  the  city  to  the  state  and  second  on  the  rela- 
tions of  the  council  to  the  executive  authorities  of  the  city. 

If  the  state  has  granted  general  powers  of  local  government  to 
the  city,  as  is  the  case  on  the  continent  of  Europe  and  in  certain 
states  of  the  United  States,  the  council  as  the  principal  au- 
thority for  their  exercise  has  very  wide  powers.  If,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  state  enumerates  the  powers  of  the  city,  as  it 
generally  does  in  England  and  the  United  States,  the  extent 
of  the  powers  of  the  council  is  determined  by  the  extent  of  the 
enumerated  powers  granted.  In  the  United  States  cities,  with 
respect  to  the  powers  of  their  councils,  fall  into  two  very  dis- 
tinct groups.  The  general  practice  has  been  to  pass  municipal 
corporation  acts,  both  general  and  special,  which  are  very  de- 
tailed in  character,  and  which  grant  comparatively  narrow 
powers  to  the  council.  The  cities  which  operate  under  such  acts 
comprise  the  great  majority  of  American  cities  and,  for  pur- 
poses of  comparison  in  this  discussion,  these  may  be  taken  as  the 
American  type.  The  second  or  "home-rule"  group  contains 
the  cities  under  home-rule  charters  and  a  few  others,  especially 
in  some  of  the  states  making  provisions  for  the  commission  plan, 
to  which  home-rule  privileges  have  been  granted.  In  these  in- 
stances broad  powers  of  local  government  are  generally  conferred, 
including  those  of  determining  the  details  of  municipal  organiza- 
tion, the  manner  of  selecting  city  officials  and  the  sphere  of 
municipal  activity,  so  that  the  position  of  the  council  approaches 
that  of  the  cities  of  continental  Europe.  This  group  cannot, 
however,  be  taken  as  typical  of  America. 

If  the  system  of  municipal  government  adopted  recognizes  the 
existence  of  other  municipal  authorities  than  the  council,  as  it 
does  everywhere  except  in  England,  the  council  loses  in  power, 
either  as  a  result  of  the  fact  that  the  participation  of  the  execu- 
tive authorities  is  necessary  to  valid  action  by  the  council,  or  be- 
cause powers  conferred  upon  the  city  are  to  be  exercised  by  the 
executive  authorities  and  not  by  the  council.  The  former  is 
the  case  in  Germany ;  the  latter  is  the  case  in  France,  Italy  and 
the  United  States.  In  France  and  Italy  the  council  possesses 
no  administrative  power,  but  does  possess  legislative  power,  al- 


220  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

though  in  France  as  in  Germany  it  has  little  or  no  power  of  local 
police  ordinance.  In  the  United  States  the  council  has  little 
administrative  power  and  has  to  share  the  exercise  of  the  ordi- 
nance power  with  the  executive,  which  has  always  the  right  to 
veto  council  ordinances,  and  sometimes  exercises  alone  the  ordi- 
nance power. 

As  a  result  of  these  conditions  we  find  that  the  power  of  de- 
termining the  details  of  the  municipal  organization  is  possessed 
by  the  council  in  England,  France,  Italy,  and  with  some  limita- 
tions in  Germany,  but  not  except  in  the  cities  of  the  home-rule 
group  in  the  United  States.  Here  this  power  has  been  exercised 
by  the  legislature  by  fixing  the  details  in  the  charter  or  statutes 
governing  the  city. 

The  council  everywhere  except  in  the  United  States,  in  ad- 
dition to  fixing  the  details  of  the  municipal  organization,  ap- 
points the  principal  executive  officers,  such  as  the  mayor  and 
heads  of  the  municipal  executive  departments.  In  the  United 
States,  outside  the  cities  of  the  home-rule  group,  the  only  power 
of  this  character  which  it  possesses  in  the  larger  cities  is  to  con- 
firm the  appointments  of  the  mayor,  and  even  this  power  is  not 
possessed  by  the  council  in  the  largest  cities.  In  the  smaller 
cities  of  the  United  States,  however,  the  council  often 
appoints  certain  of  the  most  important  city  officers.  The 
mayor  is,  except  in  Germany  and  most  of  the  large  cities  of 
the  United  States,  the  president  of  the  council.  The  council 
elects  its  own  president,  however,  in  Germany.  In  New  York 
the  presiding  officer  of  the  council,  that  is  the  president  of  the 
board  of  aldermen,  is  elected  by  the  people  of  the  city  in  the 
same  manner  as  is  the  mayor.  The  council  usually,  however, 
elects  the  other  officers  necessary  for  the  exercise  of  its  powers. 

As  a  general  rule  elections  to  the  council  are  determined  by 
some  state  court,  either  in  final  or  in  original  instance  as  well. 
The  latter  is  the  rule  in  England,  France  and  Germany.  In 
some  cases  the  council  in  the  United  States  determines  the  matter 
in  first  instance  with  appeal  in  proper  form  to  the  courts,  while 
in  very  rare  instances  it  has  the  final  determination  as  well. 
The  city  council  usually  fixes  its  own  rules  of  procedure.  The 
great  exception  is  in  the  United  States,  where  the  law  usually 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL  221 

contains  provisions  relative  to  the  number  of  members  who  will 
constitute  a  quorum,  the  majority  required  to  pass  a  resolution 
which  is  often  greater  than  an  ordinary  majority,  particularly  in 
cases  involving  the  expenditure  of  money,  or  relating  to  the  prop- 
erty of  the  city;  the  amount  of  deliberation  necessary  to  the 
validity  of  the  action  of  the  council,  such  as  the  number  of 
readings  of  council  bills,  etc.,  etc.  All  such  provisions  must  be 
observed,  else  the  action  of  the  council  will  be  invalid. 

Outside  of  the  power  of  determining  the  details  of  municipal 
organization,  the  powers  of  city  councils  may  be  classified  as: 
first,  ordinance  power;  second,  powers  to  determine  the  sphere 
of  municipal  activity;  and  third,  financial  powers. 

Ordinance  Power.  By  this  power  is  meant  the  power  to  lay 
down  rules  of  conduct  which  are  binding  upon  the  inhabit- 
ants of  the  city.  During  the7  Middle  Ages  this  power  em- 
braced a  much  wider  field  than  now.  At  present  the  state  legis- 
lature fixes  most  of  the  rules  of  conduct  which  must  be  observed 
by  the  citizen  in  his  ordinary  life,  and  leaves  to  the  city  merely 
the  power  to  regulate  some  of  those  relations,  which  as  the  re- 
sult of  the  presence  of  an  urban  population,  need  regulation  of 
a  special  character.  The  power  is  usually  referred  to  as  the 
power  of  police  ordinance.  In  Germany,  however,  city  councils 
still  have  wide  powers  of  local  legislation  and  may  as  a  result  of 
their  exercise  regulate  many  details  of  the  law  with  regard  to 
local  elections,  taxation  and  the  conditions  of  labor.28 

The  police  ordinance  power  is  usually  under  the  continental 
system  of  municipal  government  conferred  upon  the  executive. 
Thus  in  Germany  and  France  it  is  possessed  by  the  burgomaster 
and  the  mayor,  when  it  is  not  granted  to  a  state  appointed 
authority.29  By  the  Anglo-American  law,  however,  the  power 
of  ordinance  is  in  theory  vested  in  the  council.  Indeed,  by 
the  common  law  of  England  and  the  United  States  the  council 
has  the  right  to  issue  such  ordinances  merely  as  the  result  of  the 
incorporation  of  the  city.  This  implied  ordinance  power  is  the 
one  important  exception  to  the  Anglo-American  rule  of  the  enu- 

28  Schriften  des  Vereins  fiir  Socialpolitik,  Vol.  CXVII,  pp.  29,  143. 
2»  Leidig,   "Preussisches   Stadtrecht,"   p.   457 ;    BerthSlemy,  "Traite  Ele- 
mentaire  du  Droit  Administratif,"  p.  199. 


222  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

meration  of  municipal  powers.  General  grants  of  such  police 
ordinance  power,  however,  often  are  expressly  conferred  upon 
cities  by  the  Anglo-American  law. 

The  theory  of  the  American  law  that  police  ordinance  power 
is  conferred  by  general  grant,  either  express  or  implied,  upon  the 
city  council  is,  however,  largely  departed  from  in  practice.  It  is 
often  the  case  that  the  subjects  which  may  be  regulated  are 
enumerated  in  the  charter  in  great  detail.  Under  these  condi- 
tions it  is  usually  held  that,  applying  the  principle  that  "the 
mention  of  the  one  excludes  the  other,"  the  authority  in  which 
such  powers  are  vested  may  take  action  only  as  to  the  enumerated 
subjects.  The  effect  of  the  long  enumerations  found  in  many  of 
the  American  municipal  charters  and  laws  is  therefore  usually  a 
limitation  of  the  common  law  powers  of  the  ordinance  authori- 
ties. The  only  effect  that  such  enumeration  has  in  enlarging  the 
police  ordinance  power  is  that  the  courts  may  not,  as  in  the  case 
of  the  exercise  of  the  common  law  ordinance  powers,  declare 
void  an  ordinance  on  the  ground  of  its  unreasonableness.  In  the 
case  of  an  ordinance  passed  under  an  express  grant  of  power, 
its  reasonableness  is  assumed  to  have  been  settled  by  the  legis- 
lature. In  England  it  would  seem  that  all  council  ordinances  or 
bye-laws,  as  they  are  called,  may  be  declared  by  the  courts  void 
as  unreasonable,  even  where  they  have  been  approved  by  a  higher 
state  authority  such  as  the  Local  Government  Board.30  The  only 
control  which  the  courts  have  over  these  ordinances  in  conti- 
nental Europe  is  to  declare  them  void  where  they  are  in  excess 
of  the  powers  of  the  authority  adopting  them. 

Finally,  as  has  been  pointed  out,  many  charters  and  laws  in  the 
United  States  vest  the  ordinance  power  not  in  the  council  but  in 
some  executive  municipal  authority  or  take  it  away  from  all 
municipal  authorities  by  regulating  the  matter  in  their  own  pro- 
visions. 

Where  a  general  police  ordinance  power  is  vested  in  a  city 
council  the  law  of  the  United  States  often  derives  powers  from 
it  which  are  not  in  our  classification  included  within  it.  For  ex- 
ample :  the  power  to  establish  municipal  water  works  as  having 
an  important  bearing  upon  the  public  health,  and  the  power  to 

so  Redlich  and  Hirst,  "Local  Government  in  England,"  Vol.  I,  p.  328. 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL  223 

establish  municipal  electric  light  works  which  distribute  the 
electric  light  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  city,  as  having  an  im- 
portant influence  upon  the  safety  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  city, 
have  been  derived  either  from  the  general  health  ordinance 
powers  or  merely  from  the  general  ordinance  powers  of  the  city 
council. 

There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  English  and  the  original 
American  method  by  which  the  ordinance  power  is  vested  in  the 
council  is  the  preferable  method.  Where  an  ordinance  is  made 
by  an  executive  authority  there  is  generally  no  debate ;  its  pas- 
sage is  not  subjected  to  publicity.  The  ordinance  can  therefore 
receive  no  criticism  until  it  is  placed  upon  the  statute  books. 
Mr.  Eaton  says  of  the  sanitary  code  of  New  York  City,  the  origi- 
nal of  which,  consisting  of  165  ordinances',  he  himself  drafted, 
"that  with  very  small  changes  they  were  adopted  by  the  board 
[of  health]  without  any  hearing  or  consent  on  the  part  of  any 
other  city  authority  or  even  of  the  city  itself"  notwithstanding 
that  they  profoundly  affected  "many  important  private  interests 
and  rights,  as  well  as  the  duties  of  many  city  officers  outside  of 
the  board."31 

The  worst  method  is  the  one  adopted  in  many  American  cities 
where  "the  ordinance  making  power  is  distributed  between  lim- 
ited councils,  commissions,  boards  and  single  officers.  Much 
conflict,  confusion  and  needless  litigation  are  the  inevitable  re- 
sult, as  there  would  be  concerning  the  laws  if  there  were  several 
law  making  bodies  in  the  same  state.  Ordinances  which  all  citi- 
zens must  obey  certainly  ought  to  be  enacted  by  a  competent 
body  having  general  city  jurisdiction  after  public  debate  and  a 
consideration  of  the  needs  of  all  official  departments  and  all 
business  interests. " 32  It  is  not  uncommon,  however,  in  Ameri- 
can cities  for  general  ordinances  to  be  made  by  administrative 
officers  or  boards  having  only  limited  jurisdiction,  without  con- 
ference with  other  branches  of  the  administration  and  without 
public  hearings.  This  is  but  another  result  of  the  decline  in 
power  and  prestige  of  the  council.  It  has  been  said:  "Where 

si  Eaton,  "The  Government  of  Municipalities,"  p.  263. 

32  Hid.,  p.  262.  » 


224  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

good  ordinances  end,  in  municipal  administration,  despotic  or 
corrupt  official  favoritism  generally  begins. ' ' 33 

The  Power  to  Determine  the  Sphere  of  Municipal  Activity.  By 
this  power  is  meant  the  power  to  establish  services  for  the  benefit 
of  the  municipal  inhabitants.  The  continental  cities  have  this 
power  except  so  far  as  the  ground  has  been  occupied  by  the  state 
or  some  other  governmental  authority  with  the  permission  of  the 
state.  This  is  as  a  result  of  the  grant  to  them  of  general  powers 
of  local  government.  As  the  result  of  the  possession  of  such  a 
power  the  continental  city  may,  if  its  financial  resources  permit, 
provide  for  supplying  its  citizens  with  water,  gas,  light  and 
electricity,  and  for  intra-urban  transportation.  It  may  do  this 
by  entering  into  such  contract  as  it  deems  proper  with  some  pri- 
vate corporation,  which  is  the  actual  practice  throughout  France,34 
or  it  may  establish  and  operate  the  necessary  plant  itself,  as  is 
frequently  done  in  Germany.  It  may  in  this  latter  country  and 
quite  commonly  does  provide  insurance  against  fire  for  its  citi- 
zens. It  may  establish  institutions  for  loaning  money  to  those 
in  need  of  temporary  pecuniary  help,  as  is  done  in  France  by 
means  of  the  monts  de  piete.  It  may  establish  free  libraries  and 
play  grounds  and  conduct  theatres  and  concerts  for  the  instruc- 
tion, recreation  and  amusement  of  its  inhabitants. 

All  these  things  the  continental  city  council  may  do  as  a  re- 
sult of  the  exercise  of  its  general  power  of  local  government, 
without  the  necessity  of  applying  to  the  legislature  for  a  grant 
of  the  power  to  do  the  special  thing  it  desires  to  do ;  and  it  does 
all  these  things,  not  as  an  agent  of  the  state,  but  as  an  organiza- 
tion for  the  satisfaction  of  the  local  needs  of  its  inhabitants. 
Whereas,  when  it  acts  as  agent  of  the  state  it  is  subject  to  the 
control  of  the  state  whose  interests  are  affected  by  its  action, 
when  acting  as  an  organization  for  the  satisfaction  of  local  needs, 

ss  Eaton,  "The  Government  of  Municipalities,"  p.  262. 

|  34  This  is  so  because  of  the  view  entertained  by  the  Council  of  State, 
the  highest  administrative  court,  as  to  the  powers  of  municipal  councils. 
The  power  of  French  municipal  councils  as  to  undertakings  making  use 
of  the  streets  is  less  than  elsewhere  because  the  main  streets  being  part 
of  the  state  highways  are  under  the  control  of  the  central  government. 
Munro;  "The  Government  of  European  Cities,"  p.  54. 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL  225 

it  acts  free  from  almost  all  central  control,  except  such  as  is  ex- 
ercised over  the  financial  powers  whose  exercise  is  necessitated 
by  the  use  of  its  material  powers,  if  we  may  call  them  by  this 
name.  When  the  continental  city  is  acting  as  the  agent  of  the 
state  its  powers  are  quite  commonly  exercised  by  the  executive, 
in  France  the  mayor,  in  Germany  the  executive  board.  When 
it  acts  as  local  government  it  is  the  council  which  determines 
whether  the  city  shall  enlarge  or  contract  its  sphere  of  activity, 
subject  only  in  Germany  to  the  veto  of  the  executive  board  from 
which  veto  appeal  may  be  taken  to  the  proper  supervisory  au- 
thority of  the  state  government. 

In  England  and  the  United  States  conditions  are  quite  differ- 
ent. As  has  been  pointed  out  the  English  and  American  cities 
are  not  endowed  with  general  powers  of  local  government,  but 
may  only  act  where  it  is  the  evident  intention  of  the  legislature 
that  they  may  act.  In  England  it  is  true  the  laws  of  Parliament 
passed  during  the  nineteenth  century  granted  to  the  cities  very- 
wide  freedom  of  action,  but  even  in  England  it  cannot  be  said 
that  either  as  a  matter  of  law  or  of  practice  the  sphere  of  munici- 
pal activity  is  as  broad  as  it  is  on  the  continent.  Where,  how- 
ever, the  English  city  may  act  it  is  the  council  as  the  only  legally 
recognized  authority  in  the  city  government  which  acts. 

In  the  United  States,  outside  the  cities  of  the  home-rule  group, 
the  acts  of  the  state  legislatures  have  not  granted  so  wide  powers 
to  the  cities  even  as  in  England  and  the  practice  is,  whenever  it  is 
desired  to  enlarge  the  sphere  of  municipal  activity,  for  an 
appeal  to  be  made  to  the  legislature  for  the  necessary  power. 
Further,  the  powers  which  are  granted  to  the  city  are  granted 
frequently  not  to  the  council  but  to  the  executive  authority. 
This  has  been  particularly  true  of  the  city  of  New  York  during 
the  last  thirty  years,  where  the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Appor- 
tionment or  some  other  executive  authority  has,  as  a  result  of 
special  legislation,  to  exercise  the  powers  granted  to  the  city,  by 
means  of  which  the  sphere  of  New  York's  activity  has  been  in- 
creased. The  one  possible  exception  to  the  rule  of  the  narrow 
powers  of  the  American  city  councils  is  to  be  found  in  the  case 
of  councils  which  possess  a  general  police  power.  This,  it  has 
been  shown,  has  in  some  cases  been  given  a  very  wide  expansion. 


226  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

Financial  Powers.  These  powers  relate  to  city  property, 
city  taxes  and  city  indebtedness.  As  a  general  rule  the  financial 
powers  of  all  cities  are  either  enumerated  or  subjected  to  pretty 
strict  central  control.  This  principle  of  state  control  over  munic- 
ipal financial  powers  seems  to  have  been  adopted  as  a  result  of 
the  apparently  inherent  tendency  of  municipal  corporations  to 
be  extravagant.  We  find  traces  of  such  control  in  the  early  days 
of  the  Roman  Empire  where  the  emperors  appointed  curators 
whose  principal  duty  it  was  to  prevent  extravagant  manage- 
ment of  municipal  property.  One  of  the  main  reasons  why  the 
Crown  imposed  its  control  upon  the  cities  in  France  and  Ger- 
many was  to  prevent  them  from  running  into  debt  and  from 
wasting  their  property.  In  England,  however,  the  central  con- 
trol over  the  finances  of  cities  apart  from  the  taxing  power  was 
not  introduced  until  the  nineteenth  century,  when  an  administra- 
tive control  was  set  up.  In  the  United  States  the  same  century 
saw  the  introduction,  not  merely  of  limitations  on  the  financial 
powers  of  cities,  but  also  constitutional  limitations  upon  the 
power  of  legislatures  to  grant  to  cities  powers  of  taxation  and  of 
incurring  debts.  In  the  United  States  control  over  city  finances, 
like  control  over  all  other  municipal  functions,  has  been  legis- 
lative rather  than  administrative.  Much  reliance  has  likewise 
here  been  placed  on  popular  control  through  the  referendum  and 
similar  expedients  to  curb  this  tendency  towards  municipal  ex- 
travagance. 

The  financial  powers  of  city  councils  may  be  classified  as  those 
relating  to  municipal  property,  taxation  and  debts.  So  far  as 
concerns  municipal  property  the  rule  has  almost  everywhere  been 
introduced  that  municipal  property  devoted  to  a  public  service 
is  inalienable.  Thus  in  the  United  States  it  has  been  held  that 
without  special  legislative  authorization  a  municipality  may 
not  alienate  public  municipal  property  such  as  its  parks  or  water 
works.  Alienation  of  city  property  by  sale  or  long  lease  is  per- 
mitted on  the  continent  of  Europe  only  with  the  consent  of  the 
central  government.35  The  only  exception  to  this  general  rule 
is  in  the  case  of  involuntary  alienation,  that  is,  sale  on  execu- 

35  Berthdlemy,  "TraitS  Etementaire  du  Droit  Adminiatratif,"  p.  192; 
Leidig,  "Preussisches  Stadtrecht,"  p.  207. 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL  227 

tion,  which  is  permitted  in  the  case  of  all  property  in  Germany,86 
and  in  the  case  of  private  property  in  the  United  States.37  The 
management  of  city  property  is  of  course  in  England  vested  in 
the  council.  Where,  however,  an  executive  organ  exists  as  in 
France,  Germany  and  the  United  States,  the  management  of  city 
property  is  commonly  subjected  to  the  control  of  the  executive, 
if  it  is  not  absolutely  vested  in  the  executive. 

It  would  seem  to  be  the  universal  rule  that  no  city  has  any  in- 
herent right  to  levy  taxes.  The  taxing  power  is  distinctly  gov- 
ernmental in  character  and  can  be  exercised  by  a  city  only  as  a 
result  of  the  fact  that  this  power  has  been  clearly  granted  to  the 
city  by  the  state.  This  rule  has  two  important  effects.  The 
first  effect  is  that  no  city  has  any  general  taxing  power ;  that  is, 
no  city  may  impose  any  kind  of  tax  which  it  has  not  been  per- 
mitted by  the  legislature  to  impose.  The  legislature  sometimes 
grants  to  cities  such  a  general  power  of  taxation.  As  a  general 
thing,  however,  a  city's  powers  of  taxation,  so  far  as  the  kind  of 
the  tax  is  concerned,  consists  in  the  power  to  add  a  percentage  to 
the  state  tax  or  to  certain  specified  state  taxes.  There  are,  how- 
ever, exceptions  to  this  rule.  Thus  in  England  the  whole  system 
of  city  taxation  is  quite  different  from  state  taxation,  and  the 
taxes  levied  by  cities  are  technically  known  as  "rates/'  as  op- 
posed to  ' '  taxes, ' '  which  are  levied  by  the  central  government. 
Thus  again  in  France  and  Italy  one  of  the  principal  sources  of 
municipal  revenue  is  found  in  what  are  known  as  octroi  taxes, 
that  is  taxes  on  objects  brought  into  the  city  for  consumption 
therein.  Thus  again,  in  some  of  the  states  of  the  United  States, 
the  cities  levy  their  taxes  on  land  while  the  state  gets  its  revenue 
from  other  sources.  In  most  of  the  states  of  the  United  States  a 
large  part  of  the  city  revenue  comes  from  assessments  for  local 
improvements  of  supposed  benefit  to  the  property  on  which  they 
are  imposed.  These  are  technically  distinguished  in  many  ways 
from  taxes. 

The  second  effect  of  this  rule  is  that  no  city  can  levy  taxes  be- 
yond the  amount  fixed  in  the  law,  nor  for  purposes  for  which 

SB  Leidig,  op.  cit.,  p.  198. 

37  Dillon,   "The  Law  of  Municipal  Corporations,"  4th  ed.,  Vol.  II,  p. 
673. 


228  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

provision  is  not  made  in  the  law.  The  rate  of  city  taxation  is 
often  in  the  United  States  fixed  by  the  legislature  or  in  the  state 
constitution.  In  the  latter  case  the  legislature  may  not  authorize 
any  excess.  On  the  continent,  however,  it  is  usually  fixed  in  the 
law  and  may  be  exceeded  only  with  the  permission  of  the  central 
administration.  The  limitation  of  purpose  is  not  so  common  as 
the  limitation  of  rate ;  but  by  the  law  of  the  United  States  city 
taxes  are  always  limited  to  public,  and  in  many  cases  further  to 
municipal  purposes.  The  character  of  the  purpose  is  determined 
by  the  courts.  These,  in  their  decisions,  have  laid  down  rules 
which  preclude  the  American  cities  from  making  use  of  the 
taxing  power  for  a  number  of  purposes  for  which  it  is  used  in 
Europe.  Thus  taxes  may  not  be  levied  in  the  United  States  for 
the  support  of  private  schools,  for  aiding  the  inhabitants  to  re- 
build their  property  in  case  of  fire,  for  aiding  in  establishing  a 
local  industry,  and  so  on.  It  would  be  very  doubtful  whether  a 
city  might  make  even  an  indirect  use  of  its  taxing  power  by 
spending  money  to  provide  insurance  against  fire,  as  is  quite  com- 
mon in  Germany. 

Where  taxing  powers  are  given  they  are  commonly  vested  in 
the  council,  so  far  as  concerns  their  exercise  for  purely  local 
purposes.  In  a  number  of  cities  in  the  United  States,  however, 
the  taxing  power  is  vested  in  the  executive  officers,  as  is  the  case 
in  the  City  of  New  York.  Here  an  executive  board,  called  the 
Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment,  practically  exercises  the 
taxing  power,  in  that  it  determines  the  amount  of  the  appropria- 
tions which  it  is  the  duty  of  the  board  of  aldermen  to  raise  by 
the  levy  of  taxes. 

Where,  however,  the  taxing  power  is  granted  for  the  purpose 
of  obtaining  money  to  defray  the  expenses  of  those  branches  of 
administration  in  which  the  city  acts  as  the  agent  of  the  state 
the  power  is  ultimately  exercised  by  no  city  authority.  It  is 
true  it  is  the  duty  of  the  tax  levying  authority  in  the  city, 
whether  it  be  the  council  or  the  executive,  to  levy  the  taxes 
necessary  for  the  purposes  of  state  government,  but  if  such  au- 
thority neglects  or  refuses  to  do  its  duty,  the  supervisory  author- 
ity may  step  in  and  force  the  levy  of  the  necessary  tax.  On  the 
continent  this  is  some  administrative  authority  of  the  central 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL  229 

government.  In  the  United  States  the  exercise  of  the  taxing 
power  may  be  forced  by  the  courts.  This  latter,  however,  may  be 
an  ineffective  remedy,  since  it  is  usually  available  only  in  case  of 
the  application  of  a  private  individual  and  since  in  many  in- 
stances the  court  can  do  no  more  than  punish  the  tax  authority 
for  not  doing  its  duty.  It  may  not  itself  perform  the  neglected 
duty. 

The  power  to  incur  debts,  the  last  of  the  financial  powers  of 
the  city,  receives  somewhat  more  liberal  treatment  than  the  other 
financial  powers.  Cities  almost  everywhere  possess  the  power  to 
incur  debt  as  the  result  of  their  being  corporations.  Even  in  the 
United  States  such  a  power  is  recognized  by  the  courts  in  the  ab- 
sence of  a  specific  grant  by  the  legislature.  The  exercise  of  this 
power,  together  with  the  limitations  placed  upon  it,  will  be  dis- 
cussed in  connection  with  municipal  finances  generally  in  a  later 
chapter.38 

38  Infra,  Chap.  XV. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  CITY  EXECUTIVE 

References: 

Munro,  W.  B.,  "Government  of  American  Cities,"  Chaps.  IX,  X  and  XI. 
Munro,  W.  B.,  "Government  of  European  Cities,"  pp.  62-91,  163-208,  294- 
309.  Munro,  W.  B.,  "Principles  and  Methods  of  Municipal  Administra- 
tion," Chap.  I.  Rowe,  L.  S.,  "Problems  of  City  Government,"  Chap.  IX. 
Wilcox,  D.  F.,  "The  American  City,"  Chap.  X.  Goodnow,  F.  J.,  "Munic- 
ipal Problems,"  Chap.  X.  Fairlie,  J.  A.,  "Municipal  Administration," 
Chaps.  XVTII  and  XIX.  Fairlie,  J.  A.,  "Essays  in  Municipal  Adminis- 
tration," Chap.  II.  Eaton,  D.  B.,  "Government  of  Municipalities,"  Chaps. 
VII,  VIII  and  XIV.  Durand,  E.  D.,  Council  Government  versus  Mayor 
Government,  Political  Science  Quarterly,  Vol.  (1900),  pp.  426-451,  675- 
709.  Howe,  F.  C.,  "The  Modern  City  and  Its  Problems,"  Chaps.  X  and 
XI.  Story,  R.  M.,  The  American  Municipal  Executive,  University  of 
Illinois,  "Studies  in  the  Social  Sciences,"  Vol.  VII,  No.  3,  (Sept.,  1918). 

Form  and  Position  of  the  Executive.  What  has  already  been 
said  has  been  sufficient  to  show  that  the  city  executive  occupies 
a  very  different  position  in  the  different  countries.  While,  for 
example,  in  England  and  the  United  States  we  find  in  the  cities 
an  officer  called  a  mayor,  in  the  former  country  he  is  little  more 
than  the  presiding  officer  of  the  council ;  in  the  latter  he  is  a  real 
executive  authority.  What  is  true  of  the  United  States  is  also 
true  of  France,  Italy  and  Germany,  where  the  maire,  the  sindaco, 
or  the  burgomaster  even  in  those  cities  having  a  city  executive 
board  (magistrat) ,  discharges  real  executive  powers.  In  the 
German  cities  which  have  the  board  form  of  executive,  the  ex- 
ecutive board  is  also  a  real  executive  authority.  Again,  while  in 
France  and  Italy  the  executive  has  no  appreciable  influence 
over  the  legislative  functions  of  the  city  council,  in  both  Ger- 
many and  the  United  States  the  executive  has  a  veto  over  all 
acts  of  the  council.  In  Germany  (Prussia)  the  burgomaster 
may  likewise  veto  the  resolutions  of  the  executive  board.  In 
Germany  this  veto  may  be  reversed  on  appeal  to  a  higher  state 

230 


THE  CITY  EXECUTIVE  231 

• 

authority;  in  the  United  States,  by  an  extraordinary  council 
majority. 

But  while  there  is  thus  no  agreement  as  to  the  position  which 
the  mayor  or  similar  officer  shall  occupy,  there  is  general  agree- 
ment outside  of  England  that  there  shall  be  a  certain  degree  of 
separation  between  the  legislative  and  executive  powers,  each  of 
which  is,  roughly  speaking,  vested  in  a  separate  authority.  The 
degree  of  separation  is  not,  however,  everywhere  the  same.  The 
United  States  is  the  country  which  carries  this  separation  the 
farthest.  This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  mayor  does  not  owe 
his  position  to  the  council,  but  is  elected  by  the  voters  by  whom 
the  members  of  the  council  are  elected.  In  other  countries  he  is 
elected  by  the  council.  In  England,  France  and  Italy  only 
council  members  are  eligible  for  election  as  mayor.  In  Eng- 
land, France  and  Italy  therefore  it  may  be  said  to  be  the  funda- 
mental conception  of  the  position  of  the  mayor  that  he  is  to 
be  largely  dependent  upon  and  a  subordinate  of  the  council, 
which  is  thus  given,  notwithstanding  any  separation  which  may 
be  made  of  the  executive  and  the  legislative  authorities  in  the 
municipal  organization,  the  predominant  position.  The  mayor 
is  in  none  of  these  countries  given  a  power,  like  the  veto  power, 
of  exercising  any  legal  influence  over  the  council.  In  France 
and  Italy  the  position  of  the  council  in  relation  to  the  mayor  is 
weakened  by  the  provision  of  the  law  limiting  the  number  of 
the  sessions  of  the  council  to  four  or  two  each  year.  And  as 
a  matter  of  fact  the  council  is,  after  it  has  elected  the  mayor, 
largely  guided  by  him. 

In  contrast  with  the  position  of  the  municipal  executive  given 
to  him  by  the  law  in  England,  France  and  Italy  we  may  place 
the  position  which  he  occupies  in  both  the  United  States  and 
Germany.  It  is  true,  of  course,  that  the  executive  in  Germany 
is  elected  by  the  council,  but  the  central  government's  approval 
of  the  council's  choice  is  necessary  in  case  of  the  burgomaster 
and  the  professional  members  of  the  executive  board  in  order 
that  the  choice  of  the  council  may  be  effective ;  and  the  members 
of  the  executive  serve  for  long  terms  and  are  removable  during 
their  term  of  office  only  for  cause.  The  tenure  of  the  executive 
is  thus  not  of  such  a  character  that  the  executive  can  be  said  to 


232  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

be  the  council's  man.  The  veto  power  which  the  executive  has 
in  both  countries  is  a  further  indication  that  the  fundamental 
idea  of  the  German  and  American  system  is  not  to  give  the 
council  a  predominant  position  in  the  municipal  organization. 
On  the  contrary,  the  fundamental  idea  of  these  systems  would 
seem  to  be  the  establishment  of  two  somewhat  coordinate  au- 
thorities in  the  city  government. 

What  has  been  said  with  respect  to  the  position  of  the  city 
executive  in  the  foregoing  paragraphs  is  true  of  the  older  and 
typical  group  of  American  cities,  but  not  of  those  under  the 
commission  and  city  manager  forms  of  government.  In  the 
cities  under  the  commission  plan  the  executive  resembles  that  of 
the  English  city  in  that  it  is  consolidated  with  the  legislative 
authority,  but  with  the  difference  that  whereas  that  united  au- 
thority in  England  is  legislative  in  character,  in  the  commission 
governed  cities  it  is  primarily  administrative.  Under  the  com- 
mission plan,  too,  the  mayor  if  there  be  one  is  one  designated  by 
the  commission  from  among  themselves  with  powers  merely  as  a 
presiding  officer. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  because  of  either  legal  provision  or  political 
conditions  the  dominating  factor  in  the  municipal  organization 
is,  outside  of  Great  Britain  and  those  few  cities  in  the  United 
States  which  still  cling  to  the  early  council  system,  the  executive. 
The  executive  is  with  these  exceptions  the  initiating  and  the 
council  is  the  controlling  authority  in  city  government. 

Term  of  Executive.  The  term  of  the  executive  differs  in 
different  countries;  in  England  the  executive  (mayor)  serves 
one  year;  in  France,  four  years;  in  Italy,  three  years;  in  Ger- 
many, as  a  rule  twelve  years,  though  sometimes  for  life;  in  the 
United  States,  from  one  to  four  years,  generally  two  years.  Eng- 
land and  Germany  here  carry  out  logically  the  idea  at  the  bottom 
of  their  respective  municipal  systems,  while  France,  Italy  and 
the  United  States  do  not.  France  and  Italy  are  not  logical  in 
that  they  give  their  executive  a  term  inconsistent  with  that  de- 
pendence upon  the  council  which  the  system  in  other  respects 
seems  to  seek;  the  United  States,  in  that  the  mayor  has  often 
such  a  short  term  as  seriously  to  diminish  the  strength  which  is 
otherwise  accorded  to  the  position  of  the  mayor.  The  result  is 


THE  CITY  EXECUTIVE  233 

that  in  France  and  Italy  the  mayor  has  actually  become  the  more 
important  factor  in  the  city  government,  while  in  the  United 
States  much  of  the  benefit  which  might  be  secured  from  a  strong 
mayor  is  as  a  matter  of  fact  not  secured.  In  both  France  and 
Italy  the  chief  city  executive  may  be  suspended  and  removed 
from  office  by  the  central  government.  In  the  United  States  also 
the  power  to  remove  the  mayor  for  cause  is  sometimes  given  to 
the  state  government  though  seldom  exercised.  In  Germany  the 
members  of  the  city  executive  may  be  removed  only  as  the  result 
of  conviction  for  crime  or  the  judgment  of  a  disciplinary  court. 

Relation  to  City  Officers.  The  relation  of  the  chief  executive 
to  the  other  municipal  officers  over  whose  actions  he  has  more 
or  less  power  of  direction  differs  very  greatly  in  the  different 
countries.  Here  again  England  and  Germany  seem  to  be  the 
only  countries  which  have  been  thoroughly  logical  in  their  treat- 
ment of  the  question.  In  England  the  council,  not  the  mayor, 
has  the  powers  of  appointing,  removing  and  directing  all  munic- 
ipal officials.  In  Germany,  on  the  contrary,  the  executive, 
with  certain  exceptions,  appoints,  removes,  so  far  as  any  ad- 
ministrative authority  may  remove,1  and  directs  the  municipal 
officers.  In  Germany,  in  the  cities  having  an  executive  board  it 
is  true,  however,  that  the  council  elects,  subject  to  the  approval 
of  the  central  government  in  the  case  of  the  professional  mem- 
bers, the  members  of  the  executive  board.  In  France  and  Italy, 
while  the  council  elects  the  deputies  or  assessors  and  general 
managers  or  directors,  i.e.,  the  heads  of  departments,  when  it 
elects  the  mayor  and  for  the  same  term,  the  mayor,  except 
in  the  case  of  the  directors  of  the  various  public  utilities  operated 
by  the  cities  in  Italy,  apportions  their  duties  among  them  and 
thus  puts  them  in  the  position  which  they  actually  occupy  in 
the  municipal  administration  as  well  as  directs  their  actions, 
but  may  not  remove  them  from  office. 

In  the  United  States  no  less  than  five  methods  may  be  distin- 
guished for  adjusting  the  relation  between  the  chief  executive 
authority  and  the  heads  of  administrative  departments.  The 
first  and  still  the  most  common  method,  probably,  is  for  the 

i  In  Germany  office  is  regarded  as  a  vested  right  of  which  the  incum- 
bent may  be  deprived  only  as  the  result  of  a  regular  trial. 


234  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

mayor  to  appoint  the  heads  of  departments  subject  to  the  ap- 
proval of  the  council.  Another  which  was  formerly  much  made 
use  of  but  which  is  now  ordinarily  restricted  to  the  selection  of 
financial  officials  and  sometimes  to  the  heads  of  the  school  and 
park  departments  is  election  by  the  people.  A  third  and  more 
logical  method,  which  is  rapidly  superseding  the  first,  gives  the 
mayor  absolute  power  of  selecting  department  heads.  Under  the 
commission  plan  the  individual  commissioners  are  assigned  by 
the  commission  to  be  heads  of  the  several  departments,  and  each 
commissioner  is  responsible  for  the  conduct  of  his  department  to 
the  commission  as  a  whole.  Still  a  fifth  method  is  that  whereby 
the  commission  or  council,  the  supreme  executive  authority, 
appoints  a  city  manager  to  whom  is  delegated  the  actual  super- 
vision of  the  work  of  a  part  or  all  of  the  departments.  As  a  gen- 
eral rule,  in  the  United  States  the  mayor  may  remove  the  ap- 
pointed heads  of  departments  only  with  the  approval  of. the 
council,  though  the  tendency  in  the  larger  cities  is  to  vest  in  him 
the  absolute  power  of  removing  them.  Where  the  mayor  has 
unlimited  powers  of  appointment  and  removal  it  may  be  said 
that  he  has  the  power  of  direction  and  supervision,  and  is  thus 
made  responsible  for  the  administration  of  the  city.  Under  the 
commission  plan  the  commission  has  the  power  to  reassign  mem- 
bers to  the  various  departments,  and  has  absolute  power  of  re- 
moval over  the  city  manager. 

Judicial  Functions  of  Mayor.  In  both  England  and  the  United 
States,  particularly  in  the  smaller  cities  of  the  latter  country,  the 
mayor  discharges  a  few  judicial  functions.  Thus  in  England  the 
mayor  in  office  as  well  as  his  immediate  predecessor  is  a  justice 
of  the  peace,  though  it  would  appear  that  he  seldom  acts.  In 
the  United  States  the  mayor  is  generally  a  magistrate,  and  while 
he  seldoms  acts  in  the  larger  cities,  in  many  of  the  smaller  cities 
he  still  has  minor  civil  and  criminal  jurisdiction,  and  very  com- 
monly actually  exercises  his  judicial  powers.  These  judicial 
powers  would  seem,  however,  to  be  a  relic  of  the  past,  rather  than 
a  forecast  of  the  future,  and  it  is  probable  that  the  future  will 
see  a  considerable  diminution  of  them. 

Importance  of  the  Municipal  Civil  Service.  When  we  finish  our 
study  of  the  council  and  the  executive,  we  really,  with  the  excep- 


THE  CITY  EXECUTIVE  235 

tion  of  the  United  States,  almost  finish  the  description  of  the 
municipal  institutions  so  far  as  they  have  been  regulated  by  the 
statute  law.  This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  in  most  countries  of  the 
world  outside  the  United  States  the  council  has  the  power  of 
organizing  the  administrative  departments.  Under  such  an  ar- 
rangement the  detailed  organization  is  a  local  matter  regulated 
by  council  ordinance,  and  therefore  varies  from  city  to  city  and 
is  in  a  constant  state  of  change.  But  while  this  is  true,  our  study 
of  municipal  institutions  may  not  stop  here,  for  it  is  largely  as  a 
result  of  the  detailed  organization  and  of  municipal  custom 
that  municipal  government  is  good  or  bad. 

It  has  been  said  of  Paris:  "There  can  be  no  comprehension 
however  faint  of  the  government  of  Paris  which  does  not  take 
into  account  the  superb  permanent  organization  of  the  civil  serv- 
ice machine.  It  is  to  this  tertium  quid  that  one  must  look 
if  he  would  discover  the  real  unity  and  continuity  of  the  adminis- 
trative work  of  the  Paris  municipality.  Prefects  may  come  and 
go,  ministers  may  change  with  the  seasons  and  municipal  coun- 
cils may  debate  and  harangue  until  they  make  the  doings  at  the 
Hotel  de  Ville  a  by-word  for  futile  and  noisy  discussion,  but  the 
splendid  administrative  machine  moves  steadily  on.  Herein  lies 
the  explanation  of  much  that  puzzles  many  foreign  observers 
who  cannot  understand  how  to  reconcile  the  seemingly  perfect 
system  of  French  administration  in  all  matters  of  practical  de- 
tail with  the  rapid  and  capricious  changes  in  the  highest  execu- 
tive posts."  2  What  is  here  said  of  Paris  is  true  of  every  city  in 
the  world.  It  is  the  way  in  which  the  administrative  force  of  the 
city  is  organized  and  does  its  work  that  makes  municipal  ad- 
ministration efficient  or  inefficient. 

What  now  are  the  qualities  which  this  administrative  force 
should  have  in  order  that  the  best  government  may  be  secured, 
and  how  has  the  attempt  been  made,  if  it  has  been  made,  to  secure 
the  best  government? 

Desiderata  in  the  Municipal  Civil  Service.  The  qualities  de- 
sired in  a  municipal  administrative  force  are  two  in  number: 
they  are  amenability  to  popular  control,  and  administrative  effi- 
ciency. Amenability  to  popular  control  is  necessary,  else  the 

2  Shaw,  "Municipal  Government  of  Continental  Europe,"  p.  27. 


236  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

wishes  of  the  people  will  be  incapable  of  realization.  Ad- 
ministrative efficiency  is  necessary  else  what  is  done  will  not  be 
well  done.  But  while  amenability  to  popular  control  is  depen- 
dent upon  precarious  tenure,  administrative  efficiency  is  de- 
pendent upon  actual  permanence  of  incumbency.  The  two  de- 
sired qualities  seem  therefore  to  be  somewhat  inconsistent.  This 
inconsistency,  further,  is  not  a  seeming  but  a  real  inconsistency 
and,  while  the  thing  to  be  desired  is  a  proper  balancing  between 
these  opposing  qualities,  the  natural  result  is  that  it  is  usually  the 
case  that  one  of  the  two  qualities  so  desired  in  the  municipal  ad- 
ministrative force  is,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  somewhat  sacrificed  to 
the  other.  This  is  particularly  true  where  attempt  is  made  to  se- 
cure the  desired  result  by  means  of  legal  provision.  Thus  in  Ger- 
many, where  it  would  seem  that  what  is  most  ardently  desired  is 
administrative  efficiency,  the  tenure  of  municipal  officers  is  so  pro- 
tected by  law  and  those  officers  are  given  such  a  control  over  the 
actions  of  the  popular  bodies  in  the  city  government  that  an 
effective  popular  control  over  the  actual  administration  of  munic- 
ipal government  is  very  difficult  of  exercise.  German  munici- 
pal government  is  largely  a  government  by  permanent  experts 
subject  to  a  more  or  less  effective  popular  control.  In  the  United 
States,  however,  where  what  is  sought  is  a  popular  control,  the 
terms  of  the  important  municipal  officers  are  so  short,  whether  as 
a  result  of  legal  provision  or  custom,  that  permanence  of  in- 
cumbency is  well  nigh  impossible  and,  while  popular  control  is 
probably  secured  in  the  more  highly  developed  forms  of  Ameri- 
can city  government,  the  administration  is  comparatively  ineffi- 
cient. Experts  are  conspicuously  absent  in  the  system. 

In  England,  on  the  other  hand,  little  attempt  is  made  by  law 
to  secure  either  amenability  of  municipal  officers  to  popular  con- 
trol or  administrative  efficiency.  Everything  is  left  to  the  coun- 
cil and  public  opinion,  and  in  recent  years  by  these  means  rather 
than  by  specific  requirement  of  law  both  qualities  have  been  se- 
cured in  a  high  degree. 

How,  now,  may  the  desired  ends  be  secured?  This  may  first 
of  all  be  determined  in  part  from  a  somewhat  detailed  considera- 
tion of  the  organization  of  the  administrative  force  as  it  exists  in 


THE  CITY  EXECUTIVE  237 

the    various    countries    whose    municipal    institutions    we    are 
studying. 

England. — Organization  of  the  Administration.  Let  us  begin 
with  England,  which  has  a  more  clear-cut,  logical  system  than 
any  other  country.  In  England  the  council  divides  itself  into 
committees  each  of  which  has  under  its  jurisdiction  some  one 
branch  of  administration.  The  Municipal  Corporations  Act 
makes  provision  for  one  such  committee,  viz.,  the  watch  commit- 
tee, which  under  the  chairmanship  of  the  mayor  has  the  super- 
vision of  the  police. 

The  Education  Act  of  1902  also  provides  for  an  education 
committee  which  is  to  supervise  the  schools  of  the  city  and 
which,  different  from  the  other  council  committees,  may  be  com- 
posed, at  least  so  far  as  concerns  a  minority  of  its  members,  of 
persons  not  members  of  the  council.3  On  each  of  these  council 
committees  there  are  a  number  of  aldermen  and  councillors. 
These  committees  are  practically  the  heads  of  the  different  execu- 
tive departments,  which  have  been  formed  by  the  council  in  the 
exercise  of  its  power  to  organize  the  city  administration,  and 
have  power,  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  council,  in  which  the 
real  power  rests,  to  appoint,  dismiss  and  direct  the  officers  of  the 
department.  The  membership  of  these  committees  is  compar- 
atively permanent,  as  has  already  been  pointed  out. 

It  is  through  this  committee  system  that  the  whole  city  ad- 
ministration is  rendered  amenable  to  popular  control.  The  peo- 
ple control  the  council,  the  council  controls  the  committees,  and 
the  committees  control  the  departments.  The  control  which  the 
people  exercise  over  the  council  is  so  organized,  however,  that 
popular  control  is  somewhat  subordinated  to  administrative  con- 
tinuity, for,  it  will  be  remembered,  the  council  is  only  partially 
renewed  at  each  election,  one-third  of  the  councillors  being  then 
changed,  while  only  half  of  the  aldermen  change  every  three 
years. 

Character  and  Tenure  of  Civil  Service.  Under  each  committee 
there  is  the  regular  routine  administrative  force.  This  may  be 

*  A  list  of  the  committees  in  the  cities  of  Manchester  and  Leeds  is  given 
in  Fairlie,  "Municipal  Administration,"  p.  400. 


238  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

divided  into  a  higher  and  a  lower  administrative  force.  Such  a 
division  is  not,  however,  made  by  law,  but  results  from  the  usages 
of  the  council  and  its  committees.  The  higher  administrative 
force  has  by  law  a  tenure  during  the  pleasure  of  the  council,  and 
no  provision  of  law  determines  their  qualifications,  which  are 
fixed  by  the  council.4  Among  these  officers  are  the  borough  sur- 
veyor, equivalent  to  the  American  city  engineer ;  the  town  clerk, 
corresponding  to  the  American  corporation  counsel,  but  with 
such  wide  powers  that  he  is  in  many  cities  the  more  or  less  ex- 
pert head  of  the  entire  municipal  administration ;  the  health  of- 
ficer and  the  inspector  of  nuisances,  corresponding  in  each  case 
to  similar  officers  in  the  United  States.  The  lower  administra- 
tive force  includes  those  subordinate  officers  who  might,  in  the 
United  States,  be  placed  under  the  protection  of  civil  service 
laws.  "What  has  been  said  with  regard  to  the  lower  officers  may 
be  repeated  with  respect  to  these  lower  officers.  No  attempt  has 
been  made  by  law  to  apply  to  them  the  merit  system  introduced 
by  the  civil  service  reform  movement. 

It  is  apparent,  then,  that  no  attempt  is  made  to  secure  by  pro- 
vision of  law  administrative  efficiency  or  permanence  of  tenure. 
These  are,  however,  secured  by  public  opinion.  The  entire  ad- 
ministrative force  is  out  of  politics,  not  merely  national  but  also 
local  politics.  The  higher  officials  are  chosen  because  it  is  be- 
lieved they  are  qualified  to  perform  their  duties  and  not  because 
they  have  rendered  political  service;  and  inasmuch  as  their 
tenure,  while  nominally  during  the  pleasure  of  the  council,  is 
really  during  good  behavior,  they  form  a  highly  educated,  perma- 
nent professional  expert  force,  which  under  the  general  direction 
of  the  council  and  the  immediate  supervision  of  the  council  com- 
mittees carries  on  the  work  of  the  city  unaffected  by  any  changes 
which  may  arise  in  the  composition  of  the  council  or  its  commit- 
tees. The  same  may  be  said  of  the  lower  administrative  officers 
of  the  city.  In  England,  as  in  Germany,  experts  play  an  impor- 
tant role  in  the  city  government,  but  in  England  their  position 
is  not  legally  protected  as  in  Germany  and  they  are,  contrary  to 
German  practice,  rather  the  subordinates  than  the  peers  of  the 
non-expert  elements. 

*  Redlich  and  Hirst,  "Local  Government  in  England,"  Vol.  I,  p.  334. 


THE  CITY  EXECUTIVE  239 

Under  this  scheme  of  government  both  the  qualities  so  de- 
sirable in  an  administrative  force,  viz.,  amenability  to  popular 
control  and  administrative  efficiency,  are  secured.  But  an  en- 
lightened public  opinion  rather  than  the  law  is  responsible  for 
the  attainment  of  these  objects.  It  is  true,  however,  that  the  de- 
velopment and  exercise  of  such  an  opinion  are  greatly  furthered 
by  the  general  scheme  of  municipal  organization.  The  failure  to 
attain  the  same  objects  in  the  United  States  is  due  to  the  lack 
of  such  an  enlightened  public  opinion.  This  lack  is  perpetuated 
both  by  the  form  of  our  city  government  and  by  the  influence  of 
national  political  parties  in  the  city. 

Further,  the  British  principle  of  concentrating  all  municipal 
power  in  a  popularly  elected  council  makes  it  unnecessary  that 
the  popular  control  shall  be  exercised  in  concrete  cases  over  any 
of  the  distinctly  administrative  officers  in  the  city.  The  munic- 
ipal officers,  who  are  under  the  direction  of  the  council  com- 
mittees, possess  so  little  freedom  of  action  and  discretion  that  it 
is  not  necessary  in  order  to  realize  the  wishes  of  the  people  as 
expressed  by  the  council  for  the  popular  control  to  be  exercised 
regularly  over  the  officers  directly. 

Character  of  Council  Committees.  The  fact  that  the  depart- 
ment heads,  i.e.,  the  council  committees,  are  composed  of  members 
of  the  council  serving  without  pay  and  not  getting  their  liveli- 
hood out  of  the  emoluments  of  their  official  positions,  provides 
for  the  existence  and  continuous  exercise  of  a  popular  control 
over  municipal  administration,  which,  under  the  social  condi- 
tions existing  in  the  ordinary  British  city,  is  in  the  hands  of 
representatives  of  the  intelligent  and  public-spirited  classes  of 
the  urban  population.  There  being  no  salary  attached  to  coun- 
cil membership,  no  one  seeks  election  to  the  council  from  motives 
of  pecuniary  gain.  The  honor  and  social  prestige  attached  in 
the  public  estimation  to  the  position  are  sufficient  reward  for 
the  time  devoted  to  the  work.  The  fact  that  public  opinion  will 
not  tolerate  the  introduction  of  the  spoils  system  has  served  to 
prevent  the  development  of  a  class  of  professional  politicians 
seeking  office.  The  time  devoted  by  members  of  the  council  to 
municipal  work  also  is  comparatively  so  small  as  a  result  of  the 
committee  system,  which,  in  its  turn,  is  based  on  a  sub-commit- 


240  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

tee  system,5  that  even  busy  men  can  afford  to  serve  without  pay 
on  the  borough  council  and  do  their  share  of  committee  work. 
The  extension  of  the  sphere  of  activity  of  the  cities  through  their 
engaging  in  municipal  trading  is,  however,  in  some  British  cities 
so  increasing  the  demands  on  the  time  of  council  members  that, 
if  we  may  believe  common  report,  the  work  of  these  council  com- 
mittees is  becoming  somewhat  perfunctory  in  character,  and  the 
influence  of  their  professional  expert  subordinates  is  increasing 
in  importance. 

Germany. — Organization  of  the  Administration.  The  country 
whose  municipal  organization  most  closely  resembles  in  this  re- 
spect that  of  Great  Britain  is  Germany.  Here  we  find  two 
forms  of  executive  organization,  the  one  called  the  burgomaster, 
the  other  the  board,  form.  The  only  real  difference  between  the 
two  consists  in  the  fact  that  the  various  higher  administrative 
officers  are,  under  the  first,  rather  the  subordinates,  under  the 
second,  rather  the  colleagues  of  the  burgomaster.  That  is,  in 
the  burgomaster  form  they  must  do  as  they  are  told  by  the  burgo- 
master, while  in  the  board  form  they  participate  in  the  deter- 
mination of  questions  of  policy,  although,  those  questions  once 
determined,  they  are  to  act  under  the  general  direction  and  con- 
trol of  the  burgomaster.  In  both  cases  these  higher  administra- 
tive officers  are  either  paid  and  professional  or  unpaid  and 
popular,  the  number  of  the  latter  being  determined  by  local  ordi- 
nance. The  qualifications  of  the  professional  officers  are  laid 
down  in  the  law  and  provide  for  both  theoretical  professional 
training  and  practical  experience ;  the  qualifications  of  the  popu- 
lar officers  are  practically  the  same  as  those  required  of  council 
members.  Both  classes  of  officers,  as  well  as  the  burgomaster, 
who  is  a  paid  professional  officer,  are  elected  by  the  council  for 
long  terms,  generally  twelve  years,  longer,  sometimes  for  life,  in 
the  case  of  the  professional  than  in  the  case  of  the  popular  of- 
ficers. Reappointments  also  are  the  rule.  The  choice  of  the 
council  in  the  case  of  the  professional  officers  must  be  approved 

6  In  Leeds,  for  example,  several  of  the  committees  are  divided  into  as 
many  as  four  sub-committees,  while  almost  all  the  committees  are  com- 
posed of  at  least  two  sub-committees;  Hirst,  "The  City  of  Leeds," 
Schriften  des  Vereins  fttr  Socialpolitik,  Vol.  CXXIII,  p.  145. 


THE  CITY  EXECUTIVE  241 

by  the  central  government.  The  burgomaster  or  the  executive 
board  is  the  chief  executive  and  appoints  the  subordinate  ad- 
ministrative officials.  For  these  a  merit  system  of  appointment 
has  been  provided  by  law  which  lays  stress  as  in  the  case  of  the 
higher  professional  officers  both  on  theoretical  fitness,  as  evi- 
denced by  training  and  examinations,  and  practical  experience, 
as  evidenced  by  service  in  some  city  department  without  pay. 
Often  the  burgomaster  and  the  professional  members  of  the  ex- 
ecutive board  in  the  larger  cities,  have,  prior  to  their  appoint- 
ment, served  in  similar  positions  in  smaller  cities.  They  are 
chosen  because  they  are  presumed  to  be  expert,  and  often  a  city 
in  need  of  such  officers  inserts  a  notice  to  that  effect  in  the  news- 
papers, as  is  also  done  in  England.  Provision  is  also  made  for 
giving  preference  in  appointment  to  the  lower  positions  to  hon- 
orably discharged  non-commissioned  officers  of  the  army.  This 
is  particularly  true  of  the  city  police  forces,  which  thus  very 
commonly  have  had  a  military  training.  Permanence  in  tenure 
in  both  the  higher  and  lower  service  is  secured  through  the  ab- 
sence of  all  power  of  arbitrary  removal.  Discipline  is  secured 
by  the  recognition  of  a  disciplinary  power,  which  includes  the 
power  to  impose  fines  and  even  arrest,  as  vested  in  the  chief 
executive.  Pensions  are  commonly  granted  to  city  officers  after 
a  stated  term  of  service.6 

Administrative  Boards.  To  secure  a  greater  popular  control 
over  the  administration  there  is  formed  for  each  branch  of  the 
city's  business  a  board  or  commission  composed  of  one  or  more 
of  the  higher  administrative  officers,  of  members  of  the  coun- 
cil and  of  citizens  not  members  of  the  council  or  officers  of  the 
municipal  administration.  This  committee  under  the  guidance 
of  a  professional  officer  and  the  control  of  the  executive  at- 
tends to  the  business  of  some  one  branch  of  the  city's  adminis- 
tration. Thus,  for  the  schools  there  is  a  school  board  under 
the  presidency  of  a  professional  school  commissioner  (Schulrath) 
and  composed  of  the  various  elements  mentioned,  which  attends 
to  the  physical  administration  of  the  schools,  their  pedagogical 

«  For  the  position  and  powers  of  the  German  city  executive,  see  Bishop, 
"The  Burgomaster,"  American  Political  Science  Review,  Vol.  II,  p.  396; 
and  Munro,  "The  Government  of  European  Cities,"  p.  179  et  seq. 


242  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

side  being  under  the  control  of  the  school  commissioner,  acting 
under  the  direction  of  the  State  Department  of  Education. 
What  is  true  of  the  schools  is  also  true  of  the  support  of  the 
poor.  In  this  branch  of  administration  we  have  a  good  example 
of  the  way  in  which  the  German  system  attempts  to  make  use 
of  the  voluntary  work  of  its  citizens.  It  is  quite  common  in  the 
German  cities,  of  which  Elberfeld  is  a  shining  example,  for  the 
city  to  be  divided  into  districts.  In  each  of  these  districts  there 
is  a  voluntary  commission  which  attends  to  the  management  of 
the  poor  relief  under  the  general  supervision  of  the  city  board  of 
charities  in  somewhat  the  same  way  that  charity  organization 
societies  do  their  work  in  American  cities.  In  some  of  the  Ger- 
man cities  there  are  under  the  direction  of  the  local  committees  a 
large  number  of  volunteer  unpaid  workers.  In  Magdeburg,  for 
example,  in  1904,  there  were  six  hundred  and  two  unpaid  officers 
who  aided  the  city  administration  in  its  work.  Of  these,  five 
hundred  and  sixteen  were  occupied  in  the  poor  administration.7 

"We  see,  then,  here  a  system  of  boards,  largely  of  a  non-profes- 
sional character,  which  act  in  conjunction  with  and  under  the 
guidance  of  professional  higher  administrative  officers,  and  which 
are  aided  in  the  detailed  administration  by  a  large  number  of 
unpaid  workers.  This  system,  combined  with  the  powers  of  con- 
trol possessed  by  the  council  over  the  work  of  the  administra- 
tive force,  does  much  to  make  the  German  system,  which  other- 
wise lays  such  stress  upon  permanence  of  official  tenure  and  ex- 
pert management,  amenable  to  popular  control.;  This  combina- 
tion of  lay  and  professional  officers  in  the  same  authority  is 
peculiar  to  Prussia  and  underlies  the  whole  local  government  sys- 
tem. It  is  productive  of  great  efficiency  and  makes  possible  the 
occupation  by  the  city  of  a  very  wide  field  of  activity  without 
making  undue  demands  on  the  time  of  the  non-professional  popu- 
lar officers,  of  whom  there  are  so  many  in  the  city  civil  service. 

France  and  Italy. — Organization  of  the  Administration.  In 
these  countries  we  find  a  system  which  departs  even  further 
from  the  English  system.  Here  the  higher  administrative  of- 
ficers, that  is  those  who  correspond  to  the  committees  of  the 

7  Schriften  des  Vereins  fiir  Socialpolitik,  Vol.  CXVII,  pp.  181-183. 


THE  CITY  EXECUTIVE  243 

British  borough  council,  are  called  adjuncts  or  deputies  in  France 
and  assessors  in  Italy,  known  in  Italy  in  their  collective 
capacity  as  the  giunta.  These  officers  are  chosen  by  the  council 
from  its  own  members  at  the  same  time  at  which  it  elects  the 
mayor  and  for  the  same  term  as  the  mayor  and  are,  like  the  mayor, 
unpaid.  Their  number  varies  with  the  size  of  the  city,  being 
fixed  by  the  law  regulating  municipal  corporations.  The  mayor 
as  the  repository  of  the  entire  municipal  executive  power  dis- 
tributes the  business  among  them  as  he  sees  fit  and  always  has  at 
least  a  nominal  control  over  them,  though  it  would  seem  that 
he  may  not  remove  them  from  office.  An  exception  to  this 
general  system  is  to  be  found  in  the  cities  of  Italy  which  have 
since  1903  entered  the  field  of  the  operation  of  public  utilities. 
There  is  at  the  head  of  each  such  branch  of  administration  in 
these  cities  a  director  or  general  manager  chosen  by  the  council 
from  outside  its  membership  by  competition.  The  general  man- 
ager is  aided  by  a  council  chosen  in  like  manner. 

The  general  Franco-Italian  system  resembles  the  English  sys- 
tem in  that  the  heads  of  the  departments  are  thus  usually  mem- 
bers of  the  council.  It  resembles  the  German  system  in  that 
these  heads  of  departments  theoretically  act  in  the  discharge  of 
their  duties  independently  of  the  council  and  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  chief  executive. 

It  is  the  custom  in  France  for  the  council  to  appoint  com- 
mittees like  the  English  council  committees,  of  which  the  depu- 
ties are  the  real  chairmen,  but  these  committees  are  merely  ad- 
visory and  have  no  positive  administrative  functions  to  discharge. 

Tenure  of  Civil  Service.  So  far  as  the  administrative  force 
is  concerned  the  legal  conditions  are  much  the  same  in  France 
and  Italy  as  in  England,  that  is,  the  law  does  not  lay  down  the 
qualifications  of  municipal  officers  but  leaves  that  matter  to  the 
mayor,  in  whom  is  vested  absolute  power  of  appointing,  remov- 
ing and  directing  almost  all  municipal  officers  except  that  in 
certain  cases,  among  which  are  the  police,  the  central  government 
reserves  certain  powers  of  control. 

But  in  a  number  of  the  French  cities,  of  which  Paris  is  a 
marked  example,  methods  of  appointment  have  been  provided 
which  lay  great  stress  on  examinations  and  previous  training, 


244  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

and  as  a  matter  of  fact,  service,  whether  because  of  this  merit 
system  of  appointment  or  because  of  an  enlightened  public  opin- 
ion, is  quite  permanent  in  character.  Admissions  to  the  lower 
grades  of  the  municipal  services  "are  based  upon  appropriate 
and  impartial  examinations.  Promotions  are  made  upon  ap- 
proved principles  from  within  the  ranks.  The  system  is  not  so 
mechanical  as  to  preclude  the  recognition  of  special  talent,  but 
it  affords  scant  opportunity  for  injustice  or  favoritism.  The 
higher  grades  and  branches  of  the  public  service  draw  upon  the 
splendid  series  of  municipal  and  national  technical  and  profes- 
sional schools  which  train  men  for  every  special  department  of 
municipal  activity.  Removals  from  service  are  not  made  upon 
arbitrary  grounds;  political  considerations  have  nothing  to  do 
with  municipal  employment.  Faithful  continuance  in  the  serv- 
ice is  rewarded  ultimately  by  retirement  on  life  pensions.  There 
is  every  incentive  to  fidelity. ' ' 8 

Popular  Control  and  Efficiency.  The  Franco-Italian  system  in 
and  of  itself  is  not  framed  with  the  idea  of  securing  either  great 
amenability  to  popular  control  or  great  administrative  efficiency. 
The  long  term  of  the  council,  four  or  five  years,  makes  it  impos- 
sible for  the  people  to  exercise  a  continuous  control  such  as  may 
be  exercised  in  the  English  system  of  partial  renewals  and  an- 
nual elections.  Few  if  any  citizens  from  outside  the  council 
are  called  in  as  members  of  commissions  and  boards,  as  is  done  in 
the  Prussian  cities.  The  mayor  and  deputies  once  elected  by 
the  council  are  independent  of  it  and  the  failure  to  make  legal 
provision  for  permanence  of  tenure  in  the  subordinate  adminis- 
trative force  leaves  administrative  efficiency  to  be  secured  by  the 
same  public  opinion  by  which  the  popular  control  can  alone  be 
secured.9 

THe  Franco-Italian  system  abandons  absolutely  all  idea  of  ad- 

s  Shaw,  "Municipal  Government  in  Continental  Europe,"  p.  31.  For  the 
position  and  powers  of  the  French  mayor  and  executive  officers,  see 
Munro,  "The  Office  of  Mayor  in  France,"  Political  Science  Quarterly,  Vol. 
XXII,  p.  645;  "The  Government  of  European  Cities,"  p.  85  et  seq. 

9  Almost  the  only  instance  in  which  the  courts  have  interfered  with 
the  mayor's  power  of  removal  was  where  the  record  showed  that  it  had 
been  used  for  a  corrupt  purpose.  See  Revue  Generate  d'Administration, 
1901,  Vol.  I,  p.  167. 


THE  CITY  EXECUTIVE  245 

ministrative  boards  and  relies  on  single-headed  departments,  as 
they  are  sometimes  called,  for  the  council  committees  are  nothing 
but  advisory  committees  which  in  addition  to  giving  advice  to 
the  mayor  and  his  subordinates  inform  the  council  of  the  condi- 
tion of  the  different  departments.  It  is  true  that  in  both  France 
and  Italy  most  of  the  heads  of  the  departments,  that  is  the  depu- 
ties and  assessors,  are,  like  the  chief  executive,  unpaid,  but  the 
control  which  they  exercise  must  be  of  a  somewhat  perfunctory 
character  as  no  one  man  has  the  time,  while  pursuing  some  other 
occupation,  to  exercise  the  same  sort  of  supervision  over  the  af- 
fairs of  the  department  assigned  to  him  that  can  be  exercised  by 
a  board  each  member  of  which  gives  only  a  small  portion  of  his 
time  to  the  work.  Dr.  Munro  thus  says:  "In  general  it  would 
not  be  too  much  to  say  that  the  cities  of  France  are  administered 
very  largely  by  a  corps  of  permanent  municipal  officials  acting 
under  a  broad  range  of  authority  committed  to  them  by  the 
mayors. ' ' 10 

The  United  States — Organization  of  the  Civil  Service.  We  find 
here  a  system  radically  different  from  any  of  those  which  we 
have  considered.  This  system  is  characterized  by  the  complete 
separation  of  the  mayor  and  executive  departments  from  the 
council.  The  number  of  these  departments,  their  functions,  their 
term  of  office  and  the  method  of  filling  the  office  of  head  of  de- 
partment, all  these  matters  are  as  a  rule  fixed  in  considerable 
detail  by  the  provisions  of  the  municipal  corporations  act  or 
charter.  Only  the  minor  details  may  ordinarily  be  fixed  by  the 
council.  In  the  cities  operating  under  home-rule  charters  the 
municipality  is  usually  at  liberty  to  determine  its  organization, 
but  even  here  it  is  not  uncommon  for  the  charter  to  provide 
somewhat  in  detail  the  administrative  organization  instead  of 
leaving  it  to  determination  by  the  council.  In  the  ordinary 
type  of  city  the  city  executive  departments  not  only  are  sepa- 
rate from  the  council,  but  for  quite  a  long  period  in  our  history 
they  were  also  in  many  instances  separate  from  the  mayor  as 
well.  The  lack  of  concentration  resulting  from  such  a  system 
brought  it  about  that  at  one  time  very  large  discretionary  powers 

10  Munro,  "The  Office  of  Mayor  in  France,"  Political  Science  Quarterly, 
Vol.  XXII,  p.  662. 


246  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

were  vested  in  the  heads  of  departments  in  most  cities  of  the 
United  States.  This  made  it  necessary  that  frequent  changes 
should  be  made  in  the  official  force,  particularly  in  the  case  of 
the  heads  of  departments,  for  only  through  the  exercise  of  the 
power  of  appointment,  where  he  possessed  it,  could  the  mayor 
exercise  any  influence  over  the  heads  of  departments.  These 
frequent  changes  were  further  encouraged  by  the  influence 
which  national  parties  have  so  long  had  over  municipal  politics 
in  the  United  States. 

Popular  Control  and  Efficiency.  This  board  system  of  munic- 
ipal government,  as  it  existed  in  the  United  States  about  the 
year  1880,  was  of  such  a  character  that  it  insured  neither  amena- 
bility to  popular  control  nor,  except  in  so  far  as  it  provided  for 
a  reasonable  administrative  continuity,  administrative  efficiency. 
City  elections  were  largely  decided  as  an  incident  of  national 
and  state  politics,  and  the  frequent  changes  in  the  official  force 
with  the  resulting  lack  of  permanence  brought  it  about  that 
administrative  efficiency  was  difficult  of  attainment.  Since  1880, 
however,  the  attempt  has  been  made  to  concentrate  municipal 
administration  in  the  hands  of  the  mayor,  to  whom  are  given 
very  generally  in  the  later  charters  in  the  larger  cities  the 
powers  of  appointing  and  removing  and  the  resulting  power 
of  directing  the  heads  of  the  city  executive  departments. 

While  this  change  has  resulted  in  subjecting  the  municipal 
administration  to  a  greater  popular  control,  it  has  not  suc- 
ceeded in  producing  that  permanence  in  the  higher  ranks  of 
the  administrative  force,  particularly  in  the  heads  of  depart- 
ments, which  is  necessary  for  administrative  efficiency.  Each 
incoming  mayor  as  a  matter  of  course  appoints  new  heads  of 
departments,  as  he  had  done  prior  to  the  time  when  the  change 
in  the  position  of  the  mayor  had  been  made,  and  in  so  doing 
is  supported  by  the  prevailing  public  opinion. 

Under  the  commission  form,  as  has  been  indicated,  popular 
control  is  secured  by  making  the  department  heads  responsible 
to  the  elected  commission.  Whether  or  not  there  is  a  require- 
ment of  law  that  the  working  subordinates  be  selected  under  the 
merit  system,  there  is  apparently  a  more  serious  attempt  in 
the  commission  governed  cities  taken  as  a  whole  than  elsewhere, 


THE  CITY  EXECUTIVE  247 

to  secure  efficiency  by  the  recognition  of  professional  attain- 
ments in  the  selection  of  such  officials.  Under  the  city-manager 
system  a  distinct  advance  in  this  direction  is  to  be  observed, 
which  places  the  manager  upon  somewhat  the  same  plane  of 
professional  standing  as  is  the  German  burgomaster. 

Lower  Administrative  Service.  What  is  true  of  the  higher 
administrative  officers  is  also  true  of  the  lower  administrative 
service.  It  is  a  noteworthy  fact  that  whereas  the  application 
of  what  are,  in  this  country,  popularly  known  as  civil  service 
reform  principles,  viz.,  appointment  for  merit  and  security  of 
official  tenure,  is  secured  in  the  European  countries  by  public 
opinion  without  the  assistance  of  positive  law,  in  so  far  as  these 
principles  have  been  realized  in  practice  in  America,  it  is  as 
the  result  of  statute  rather  than  of  a  widespread  public  opinion 
upon  the  subject.  Until  within  a  comparatively  recent  time 
there  has  been  no  active  and  widespread  body  of  sentiment 
against  the  evils  of  the  spoils  system.  The  prevalent  belief  that 
partisan  politics  in  city  government  was  necessary  to  the  main- 
tenance of  national  political  parties  has  blinded  the  people  to  the 
evils  which  the  city  suffers  thereby.  Within  the  last  decade  espe- 
cially there  has  been  a  growing  appreciation  of  the  fact  that  mu- 
nicipal questions  should  be  decided  upon  their  own  merits,  and 
that  the  fortunes  of  the  cities  should  not  be  sacrificed  in  the  inter- 
ests of  the  state  and  national  parties.  The  one  department  of  the 
city  government  which  is  almost  universally  in  this  country 
placed  upon  a  professional  basis  and  its  staff  given  permanence 
of  tenure  is  that  of  education.  In  a  large  number  of  cities  the 
members  of  the  police  and  fire  departments  are  also  given  a  per- 
manent tenure.  In  certain  states  by  state  law,  and  in  many 
cities  by  local  regulation  the  merit  system  has  been  applied  to 
the  whole  or  a  substantial  portion  of  the  administrative  service. 
It  is  an  encouraging  fact  that  in  several  recent  instances  where 
attacks  have  been  made  upon  existing  merit  systems,  the  public 
has  rallied  loyally  in  defense  of  the  principle  and  repulsed  the 
attacks.  In  the  great  majority  of  the  cities  of  the  country 
little  has  been  accomplished  or  even  attempted  in  securing  any 
general  appreciation  of  the  fundamental  importance  of  the  ques- 
tion. Even  the  cities  under  the  commission  form  of  government 


248  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

have  fallen  far  short  in  perhaps  a  majority  of  cases  of  securing 
a  really  permanent  expert  service. 

Department  Heads. — Boards  or  Single  Commissioners.  The  de- 
sire to  concentrate  all  executive  power  in  the  mayor  in  order 
to  secure  that  responsibility  for  the  municipal  government  with- 
out which  popular  control  cannot  exist,  and  also  to  secure  greater 
administrative  efficiency,  has  resulted  in  the  very  general  adop- 
tion of  what  are  called  single-headed  departments. 

The  desirability  of  single-headed  departments  has  come  to  be 
regarded  as  unquestionable,  and  it  is  almost  heretical  at  the 
present  time  to  express  the  conviction  that  the  board  form  is 
preferable.  At  the  same  time  it  will  be  remembered  that  both 
England  and  Germany,  where  city  government  on  the  whole  is 
more  successful  than  elsewhere,  lay  great  emphasis  upon  the 
board  form  of  administrative  departments.  While,  therefore, 
a  conviction  of  the  desirability  of  the  board  form  may  be  re- 
garded as  heretical  when  looked  at  from  the  viewpoint  of  the 
average  American  municipal  reformer,  it  cannot  be  considered 
at  all  heretical  when  considered  in  the  light  of  continental 
European  and  English  municipal  conditions.  It  is  therefore 
quite  proper  to  consider  somewhat  in  detail  the  reasons  in  favor 
of  the  board  form  of  organization. 

The  reasons  in  favor  of  the  board  form  are  in  the  first  place 
the  greater  permanence  of  tenure  in  the  heads  of  the  city  ex- 
ecutive departments  which  it  assures.  This  permanence  results 
from  the  fact  that  boards  may  be  so  organized,  as  indeed  they  are 
generally  organized,  as  to  be  partially  renewed  at  any  one  time. 
The  members  are  given  such  a  tenure  and  term  of  office  that  all 
of  them  do  not  leave  office  at  the  same  time. 

A  further  reason  for  the  adoption  of  the  board  form  is  that 
it  is  the  only  form  of  organizing  the  executive  departments  of 
a  city  which  really  makes  permanently  possible  popular  non- 
professional  administration.  The  work  in  practically  all  ex- 
ecutive departments  of  cities  of  any  size  is  so  great  in  extent 
and  so  complex  in  character  that  it  can  be  properly  attended 
to  by  one  man  only  on  the  condition  that  he  devote  his  entire 
time  to  it  during  his  term  of  office.  Certainly  no  one  man  can 
properly  attend  to  the  work  of  a  municipal  department  unless 


THE  CITY  EXECUTIVE  249 

he  subordinates  all  other  work  of  a  private  character  to  the  per- 
formance of  his  official  duties.  *  Now  no  man  can  afford  to  devote 
himself  for  any  length  of  time  to  the  performance  of  official 
duties  so  absorbing,  unless  the  emoluments  of  office  are  quite 
large  and  the  experience  derived  from  the  performance  of  offi- 
cial duties  is  going  to  be  of  aid  to  him  in  his  future  career. 

The  result  is  that  either  a  permanent  official  class  must  be 
developed  under  the  single-headed  system,  or  else  the  offices  are 
monopolized  by  the  well-to-do  classes  of  people.  The  latter  re- 
sult is  not  believed  in  the  United  States  to  be  consistent  with  a 
popular  democratic  government.  The  former  means  either  a 
permanent  professional  bureaucracy  or  that  the  offices  are  filled 
by  a  set  of  men  who  make  politics  their  profession,  obtaining 
their  livelihood  from  the  emoluments  of  the  various  offices  they 
fill,  one  after  the  other.  Because  they  do  not  occupy  any  of  the 
offices  for  any  length  of  time  and  because  they  have  not  re- 
ceived any  adequate  training  they  are  really  not  competent  to 
fill  these  offices. 

This  last  result  is  what  has  followed  in  the  average  American 
city,  the  adoption  of  the  single-headed  form  of  organizing  the 
executive  departments.  It  is  unquestionably  true  that  the  ma- 
jority of  important  offices  in  the  city  of  to-day  in  the  United 
States  are  filled  in  the  long  run  by  what  may  be  termed  "  po- 
litical hacks."  By  this  term  is  meant  men  who  get  their  living 
out  of  politics,  who,  if  they  do  not  resort  to  other  and  illegiti- 
mate methods  of  obtaining  money  and  are  not  well-to-do,  must 
get  their  living  out  of  the  salaries  which  are  attached  and  must 
be  attached  to  the  offices.  They  are  in  fact  the  only  men  to 
whom  we  can  look  under  the  present  American  system  to  take 
office  permanently. 

The  problem  of  administrative  organization  is,  then,  to  de- 
velop a  system  which  brings  into  being  a  really  professional 
service  and  at  the  same  time  secures  adequate  popular  control. 
Such  a  professional  service  could  be  secured  only  by  frankly 
recognizing  a  professional  class ;  making  the  term  of  office  long, 
preferably  during  good  behavior;  attaching  large  salaries,  and 
demanding  of  incumbents  a  high  standard  of  professional  attain- 
ment. Such  a  system,  depending  upon  a  professional  class, 


250  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

even  if  it  could  be  developed,  lacks  the  necessary  element  of 
popular  control.  It  is  doubtful  whether,  through  any  organiza- 
tion of  the  mayor's  powers  under  the  mayor-council  system,  the 
influence  of  a  mayor  serving  for  a  short  time  and  dependent 
upon  this  professional  force  for  the  carrying  out  of  his  policies 
would  be  great  enough  to  make  the  service  sufficiently  amenable 
to  popular  control. 

Administration  by  Non-Professional  Boards.  From  what  has 
been  said  it  would  appear  that  a  real  professional  service  prop- 
erly amenable  to  popular  control  can  be  built  up  only  by  making 
it  subordinate  to  a  system  of  boards,  under  which  board  mem- 
bers are  not  paid  large  enough  salaries  to  make  their  positions 
attractive  as  a  means  of  livelihood.  An  ideal  arrangement  would 
perhaps  be,  as  is  the  case  in  the  European  countries,  to  attach 
no  emoluments  whatever  to  the  positions  but  to  depend  upon 
the  civic  interest  of  citizens  to  attract  them  to  the  public  service. 

Such  a  board  system  would  make  it  possible  for  the  business 
and  professional  classes  of  the  community  to  assume  the  care  of 
the  public  business  without  making  too  great  sacrifices.  Compul- 
sory service,  as  is  the  rule  in  Prussia,  might  be  introduced. 
Such  a  provision  for  compulsory  unpaid  service  would  not  be 
unjust,  for  the  work  of  almost  all  departments  is  of  such  a 
character  that  it  can  be  subdivided  and  distributed  among  the 
various  members  of  the  boards  at  the  head  of  the  departments. 
The  work  demanded  of  the  members  of  these  boards  would  be 
much  diminished  if  proper  methods  of  filling  the  higher  sub- 
ordinate positions  were  adopted.  If,  for  example,  the  public 
works  department  of  the  city  were  placed  in  the  hands  of  a 
board  having  under  its  direction  a  competent  engineer  or  engi- 
neers with  permanent  official  tenure  who  should  attend  to  the 
details  of  the  purely  technical  work,  there  would  be  left  for 
the  board  itself  merely  questions  of  policy  to  determine,  which 
could  be  given  to  individual  members  of  the  board  to  attend 
to  with  the  aid  of  the  permanent  professional  force.  The  in- 
dividual board  members,  by  the  expenditure  of  a  comparatively 
small  amount  of  time,  that  is  as  compared  with  what  would 
be  demanded  of  one  man  responsible  for  the  entire  work  of  the 
department,  could  arrange  all  preliminaries  which  must  be  at- 


THE  CITY  EXECUTIVE  251 

tended  to  before  any  matter  was  decided  by  a  full  session  of  the 
board.  Such  full  sessions  could  be  held  often  enough  to  secure 
proper  attention  to  the  work  of  the  department,  without  making 
it  necessary  for  any  member  of  the  board,  even  if  account  is 
taken  of  the  individual  work  he  would  do,  to  devote  all  of  his 
time  or  even  a  large  part  of  his  time  to  public  business  to  the 
detriment  of  his  private  affairs. 

Such  a  method  of  organizing  the  heads  of  municipal  depart- 
ments not  only  makes  the  administration  of  the  municipal  policy 
popular  in  character  but  it  also  has  the  great  advantage  of 
awakening  and  keeping  alive  local  public  spirit.  The  mere 
fact  that  it  calls  into  public  service  a  large  number  of  men  who 
are  not  in  public  life  for  what  they  can  get  out  of  it  tends  to 
form  numerous  centers  from  which  radiate  the  best  sort  of  po- 
litical influences — influences  which  are  continuously  at  work 
for  the  amelioration  of  municipal  conditions.11  If  combined 
with  such  a  method  of  organizing  the  heads  of  municipal  depart- 
ments there  were  adopted  proper  methods  of  appointing,  not 
merely  the  clerical  and  ministerial  forces  of  the  departments, 
but  also  the  higher  subordinates  who  ought  to  have  a  special 
and  technical  training,  the  administration  would  be  popular 
and  efficient,  and  would  encourage  the  development  of  public 
spirit. 

That  such  a  system  is  not  wholly  foreign  to  American  experi- 
ence will  be  seen  by  an  examination  of  the  ordinary  method  of 
organizing  the  administration  of  education,  which  must  be  re- 
garded as  on  the  whole  the  most  successful  branch  of  American 
municipal  administration.  At  the  head  of  the  administration 
of  the  schools  is  to  be  found  a  school  board  or  board  of  educa- 
tion, whose  members  are  elected  or  appointed  in  various  ways. 
Under  the  board,  which  concerns  itself  with  the  general  policy 
of  the  schools,  is  to  be  found  a  more  or  less  professional  force 
with  the  superintendent  of  schools  at  its  head,  which  under  the 
direction  of  the  board  of  education  conducts  the  common  schools. 
This  system  has  had  the  result  of  allowing  state  and  national 

11  As  to  the  general  effect  on  city  government  of  the  existence  of  numer- 
ous unpaid  officers,  see  Schriften  des  Vereins  fur  Socialpolitik,  Vol.  CXVII, 
pp.  283-286. 


252  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

politics  to  have  much  less  influence  over  the  schools  than  they 
have  over  the  other  branches  of  city  administration.  It  has  also 
had  the  effect  of  keeping  alive  the  interest  of  the  people  in  the 
schools,  which  are  unquestionably  considered  one  of  the  most 
important  branches  of  municipal  administration,  and  in  the 
proper  maintenance  of  which  the  people  of  almost  every  city  of 
the  United  States  take  the  greatest  pride. 

It  is  also  to  be  noticed  that  often  in  those  cities  in  whose  or- 
ganization the  single-headed  system  predominates,  when  any 
great  public  work  is  to  be  undertaken  for  whose  successful 
prosecution  a  continuous  policy  is  desirable,  the  work  is  entrusted 
not  to  the  single  head  of  the  department  of  public  works,  but  to 
a  special  commission  or  board  whose  members  have  long  terms 
of  office. 

Administration  Under  Commission  Government.  The  commis- 
sion plan  of  government,  though  retaining  the  idea  of  single- 
headed  departments,  seemed  at  first  destined  to  secure  a  per- 
manent professional  administrative  force  combined  with  ade- 
quate popular  control,  through  a  different  method.  Under  the 
original  commission  plan  the  commissioner  in  charge  of  a  depart- 
ment was  not  required  to  possess  expert  professional  qualifica- 
tions, and  he  was  not  paid  for  nor  was  he  expected  to  devote 
his  entire  time  to  the  work  of  the  department.  His  position 
was  somewhat  that  of  the  English  council  committee  (in  this 
case  a  committee  of  one),  rather  than  that  of  the  usual  depart- 
ment head  as  appointed  by  the  mayor.  The  technical  knowledge 
was  supplied  by  subordinates  in  actual  charge  of  the  york  who 
would  presumably  be  given  a  permanent  professional  standing. 
The  commission  as  a  whole  to  whom  the  commissioner  was  re- 
sponsible stood  as  the  supervising  agency  of  popular  control. 

When,  however,  the  commission  plan  was  transplanted  to 
Houston  and  to  Des  Moines  departmental  organization  was  pro- 
foundly altered.  Each  commissioner  was  now  required  or  ex- 
pected to  devote  his  whole  time  to  the  work  of  his  department 
and  his  salary  was  increased  accordingly.  Instead  of  standing 
as  a  supervising  agency  of  the  public  overseeing  the  work  of 
a  professional  force,  he  became  the  active  working  head  of 
his  department.  Perceiving  that  when  commissioners  are  as- 


THE  CITY  EXECUTIVE  253 

signed  to  their  departments  after  election  it  is  only  by  chance 
that  they  possess  specialized  qualifications,  one  state,  at  least, 
has  recognized  the  new  position  of  the  commissioner  by  pro- 
viding that  the  commissioners  shall  be  elected  directly  by  the 
people  to  the  headship  of  specific  departments.  The  result  is 
virtually  a  return  to  the  system  of  elected  department  heads 
which  more  than  half  a  century  ago  proved  so  unsatisfactory, 
modified  only  by  what  must  in  the  long  run  prove  a  feeble  super- 
vision by  the  commission  as  a  whole.  Both  the  method  of  selec- 
tion by  popular  election  and  the  instability  of  the  tenure  will 
prevent,  under  the  Houston  and  Des  Moines  system,  the  develop- 
ment of  a  permanent  and  trained  professional  class  of  adminis- 
trators. We  are  forced  to  the  conclusion  that  under  the  pre- 
vailing type  of  commission  government  the  office  of  commissioner 
will  tend  to  be  filled  by  the  same  type  of  professional  politician, 
devoid  of  special  qualifications,  as  is  to  be  found  at  the  head 
of  the  departments  under  the  older  forms  of  city  government. 
Could  the  original  conception  of  the  commissioner's  place  have 
prevailed,  a  more  satisfactory  result  in  this  direction  might  have 
been  realized. 

But  notwithstanding  all  that  may  be  said  and  all  that  has  been 
attempted  in  the  direction  of  board  control  in  this  country,  the 
recent  trend  is  toward  the  single-headed  idea,  particularly  in 
the  larger  cities  where  the  work  of  the  departments  is  more 
complex.  What  is  desired  is  administrative  efficiency  and  quick 
action.  It  may  be  that  the  social  conditions  of  American  life 
are  not  such  as  favor  the  board  form.  It  is  certainly  true  that 
the  whole  industrial  and  commercial  organization  of  the  country 
is  based  on  the  one-man  idea  rather  than  on  the  board  idea. 
It  is  the  railroad  president,  the  corporation  president,  and  the 
bank  president,  rather  than  the  board  of  directors  who  gives 
its  tone  to  the  railway,  the  manufacturing  company  and  the 
bank.  What  is  true  of  the  industrial  organization  is  in  like 
manner  true  of  our  educational  and  political  organization.  It 
is  the  college  president  and  the  party  leader  who  directs  the 
college  and  controls  the  party.  It  is  the  President  and  the 
state  governor,  not  Congress  and  the  legislature,  to  whom  the 
public  are  turning  to  secure  desired  results  through  political 


254  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

action.  In  spite  of  the  advantages  offered  by  the  board  system 
and  the  abuses  to  which  the  single-headed  plan  is  open,  it  is  not 
surprising  that  the  same  tendencies  and  ideals  should  prevail  in 
city  administration  as  pervade  our  industrial  and  political  life. 

The  City  Manager.  The  institution  known  as  the  city  manager 
is  the  result  of  an  effort  to  combine  with  popular  control  through 
the  commission,  the  efficiency  to  be  derived  from  the  centraliza- 
tion of  responsibility  in  a  single  individual  and  the  creation 
of  a  permanent  professional  force,  both  of  which  have  failed 
of  attainment  through  the  commission  plan  as  well  as  through 
the  mayor-council  form  of  organization.  The  qualifications  and 
tenure  prescribed  for  the  manager  give  him  a  professional  stand- 
ing not  hitherto  recognized  in  the  head  of  an  American  city. 
At  the  same  time  the  responsibility  centered  in  him  for  the 
successful  conduct  of  affairs,  together  with  the  provisions  made 
for  a  merit  system  give  reasonable  assurance  that  the  same 
character  will  pervade  the  whole  administration. 

By  the  charter  of  Dayton,  Ohio,  which  was  the  first  of  the 
larger  cities  to  adopt  the  city  manager  plan,  and  whose  organic 
law  may  be  taken  as  typical,  it  is  provided  that:  "The  com- 
mission shall  appoint  a  city  manager  who  shall  be  the  adminis- 
trative head  of  the  municipal  government  and  shall  be  respon- 
sible for  the  efficient  administration  of  all  departments.  He 
shall  be  appointed  without  regard  to  his  political  beliefs  and 
may  or  may  not  be  a  resident  of  the  city  of  Dayton  when  ap- 
pointed. He  shall  hold  office  at  the  will  of  the  commission  and 
shall  be  subject  to  recall."  His  functions  include  the  duty  to 
appoint  and  remove  all  officers  both  of  the  higher  and  lower 
administrative  services,  subject  in  the  latter  case  to  civil  service 
regulations;  to  make  all  appointments,  "upon  merit  and  fitness 
alone";  to  advise  the  commission  as  to  the  financial  condition 
and  needs  of  the  city,  and  to  recommend  such  measures  as  he 
shall  deem  necessary. 

Since  this  type  of  administrative  organization  assumes  a  dis- 
tinctly professional  character,  the  Dayton  charter  introduces 
a  further  element  of  popular  control  beyond  that  exercised  by 
the  commission  itself,  by  directing  the  commission,  upon  re- 
quest of  the  manager,  to  appoint  citizen  advisory  boards.  The 


THE  CITY  EXECUTIVE  255 

function  of  the  boards  is  to  "consult  and  advise  with  the  various 
departments ' '  as  may  be  prescribed  by  ordinance.  These  unpaid 
boards  suggest  the  citizen  element  in  the  German  municipal 
departmental  commission  which  has  done  much  to  popularize  an 
otherwise  too  professional  administrative  service. 

City  Administrative  Districts.  Before  closing  what  is  said  as 
to  the  organization  of  the  city  executive,  a  word  at  least  should 
be  said  with  regard-  to  the  districts  into  which  the  city  is  di- 
vided for  the  purposes  of  its  administration.  Almost  every  one 
of  the  departments  in  a  city  of  any  size  feels  the  need  of  divid- 
ing the  city  into  circumscriptions  for  the  purpose  of  discharging 
conveniently  the  functions  intrusted  to  it.  Thus,  the  police  of 
the  city  cannot  keep  order  in  a  city  of  any  size  where  they  are 
obliged  to  act  from  a  single  center.  The  city  is  usually  di- 
vided into  precincts,  in  each  of  which  is  a  center  of  police  ac- 
tivity. "What  is  true  of  the  police  is  true  of  the  fire  department, 
the  street-cleaning  department,  the  public  works  and  other  de- 
partments. In  addition  to  the  purely  administrative  districts 
into  which  cities  of  any  size  must  be  divided,  there  are  other 
districts  which  must  be  provided,  such  as  election  districts  for 
both  state  and  municipal  elections,  and  judicial  districts. 

Of  course  it  is  true  that  the  needs  of  each  department,  whose 
needs  are  thus  considered,  are  somewhat  different  from  the  needs 
of  every  other  such  department.  If  these  needs  are  the  only 
thing  worthy  of  consideration,  each  department  should  be  at 
liberty  to  district  the  city  to  suit  its  own  convenience  regardless 
of  the  other  departments  and  branches  of  the  city  government. 
But  it  is  also  true  that  the  interests  of  the  city  as  a  whole  de- 
serve consideration,  and  that  if  the  method  of  districting  the 
city  has  an  important  influence  on  those  interests,  and  particu- 
larly upon  the  political  capacity  of  the  people,  considerations 
of  administrative  convenience  should  give  way.  Now  it  is  un- 
questionably true  that  the  district  system  of  a  city  does  have  an 
important  influence  on  the  political  capacity  of  the  people. 

Attention  has  been  called  to  the  fact  that  one  of  the  things 
which  make  city  government  inherently  difficult,  is  the  lack  of 
neighborhood  feeling,  which  seems  invariably  to  be  produced 
by  city  life.  If  each  branch  of  the  city  government,  and  each 


256  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

city  executive  department,  forms  districts  to  suit  its  own  con- 
venience merely,  it  is  almost  a  certainty  that  there  will  be 
almost  as  many  series  of  districts  as  there  are  branches  of  city 
government  and  city  executive  departments.  The  result  is  that 
such  a  neighborhood  feeling  as  may  exist  is  disintegrated,  and 
that  it  becomes  impossible,  so  long  as  this  administrative  diver- 
sity continues,  for  such  a  feeling  to  develop.  If,  on  the  other 
hand,  care  were  taken  to  make  the  election  districts  the  same 
as  the  judicial  districts  and  to  cause  these  to  conform,  in  some 
way,  to  the  police,  fire  and  other  districts;  if  the  district  court- 
house, the  fire  engine-house,  the  police  station-house  and  even 
the  school-house  in  given  parts  of  the  city  were  situated  from 
the  point  of  view  of  city  geography  near  each  other — were 
placed,  perhaps,  in  or  around  a  small  play-ground  or  park — 
it  would  be  possible  to  develop  civic  centers  which  might  ma- 
terially assist  the  social  center  movement  which  already  in  cer- 
tain cities  has  done  much  to  develop  a  neighborhood  spirit. 
It  is  quite  true  that  the  convenience  of  the  departments  might 
be  interfered  with,  but  the  loss  suffered  by  the  departments 
would  be  more  than  compensated  for  by  the  development  of 
neighborhood  spirit,  and  in  many  instances  as  well  by  the 
greater  convenience  of  the  citizen,  who  would  find  that  his  busi- 
ness with  the  city  government  could  be  conducted  with  greater 
ease  than  under  conditions  where  the  city  districts  bore  no 
relation  to  each  other.  Under  the  plan  which  has  been  out- 
lined, of  course  the  districts  would  be  more  permanent  than 
at  present,  while  the  civic  centers  which  might  develop  would, 
of  necessity,  be  absolutely  permanent.  The  changes  of  popula- 
tion which  are  going  on  so  continuously  in  the  city  would  make 
the  problem  of  district  representation  a  different  one  from  what 
it  is  where  the  districts  are  not  permanent  but  are  changed  to  suit 
the  changes  of  population.  The  problem  would  not,  however, 
be  one  of  great  difficulty,  for,  instead  of  establishing  single 
districts  as  at  present,  it  would  be  possible  to  make  provision 
for  districts  whose  representation  would  vary  with  their  popu- 
lation. 

The  plan  which  has  been  outlined  is  one  which  to  a  large 
degree  has  been  adopted  in  Paris.    Paris  is  divided  into  twenty 


THE  CITY  EXECUTIVE  257 

districts,  each  of  which  has  a  civic  center — the  mairie — at  which 
are  found  the  office  of  the  mayor — in  this  case  a  district  and 
not  a  city  officer — generally  a  city  library,  and  the  local  office  of 
the  charities  department.  The  mairie  itself  is  usually  situated 
in  a  small  open  space  or  park.  The  twenty  districts,  in  addi- 
tion to  being  thus  administrative  districts,  are  also  election  and 
judicial  districts.  In  this  case,  notwithstanding  their  differ- 
ences in  population,  they  are  equally  represented  on  the  city 
council.  Somewhat  similar  are  the  conditions  in  Germany  where 
the  large  cities  are  divided  into  districts,  with  a  district  officer 
at  the  head  of  each,  who  is  the  subordinate  of  the  burgomaster. 
So  far,  however,  in  the  United  States  little  attention  seems  to 
have  been  given  by  the  city  governments  to  this  important  mat- 
ter, and  the  convenience  of  the  administrative  departments 
alone  has  been  considered.  The  result  is  that  an  opportunity 
has  not  been  availed  of  either  to  preserve  or  to  develop  neigh- 
borhood feeling,  or  to  secure  an  architectural  effect  which 
would  render  city  life  much  more  attractive  than  it  is  at  present. 


CHAPTER  XI 

POLICE  ADMINISTRATION 

References : 

Munro,  W.  B.,  "Principles  and  Methods  of  Municipal  Administration," 
Chaps.  VII  and  VIII.  James,  H.  G.,  "Municipal  Functions,"  Chaps.  II, 
III  and  V.  Beard,  C.  A.,  "American  City  Government,"  Chaps.  VI  and  XI. 
Fairlie,  J.  A.,  "Municipal  Administration,"  Chap.  VIII.  Howe,  F.  C.,  "The 
Modern  City  and  Its  Problems,"  Chaps.  XVII,  XIX  and  XX.  Zueblin,  C., 
"American  Municipal  Progress,"  Chaps.  VII  and  VIII.  Bruere,  H.,  "New 
City  Government,"  Chaps.  X  and  XI,  and  pp.  401-414.  Hatton,  A.  R., 
The  Control  of  Police,  Proceedings  of  the  National  Municipal  League,  1909, 
pp.  157-171.  Fuld,  L.  F.,  "Police  Administration,"  Chaps.  I,  II  and  IX. 
Fuld,  L.  F.,  Organization  of  Police  -Forces,  Proceedings  of  the  National  Mu- 
nicipal League,  1910,  pp.  281-303.  Veiller,  L.,  Essential  Principles  of  a 
Building  Code,  Proceedings  of  the  National  Municipal  League,  1909,  pp. 
196-204.  Shurtleff,  "Carrying  Out  the  City  Plan,"  Chap.  V.  Soper, 
G.  A.,  "Modern  Methods  of  Street  Cleaning,"  pp.  1-59.  Soper,  G.  A.,  Work 
of  Boards  of  Health,  Proceedings  of  the  National  Municipal  League,  1908, 
pp.  378-387.  Baker,  M.  N.,  "Municipal  Engineering  and  Sanitation,"  pp. 
175-232,  Chap.  XXXVI.  Baker,  M.  N.,  Municipal  Health  Problems  and  the 
General  Public,  Proceedings  of  the  National  Municipal  League,  1909,  pp. 
433-438.  Evans,  W.  A.,  Chicago's  Municipal  Sanitation,  Proceedings  of  the 
National  Municipal  League,  1907,  pp.  344-351. 

Definition  of  Police.  The  word  "police"  has  been  used  in  the 
past  and  is  now  used  in  quite  different  senses.  Originally  it 
meant  all  government.  Later  it  was  used  to  indicate  what  is  now 
called  internal  administration,  that  is,  all  administration  not  re- 
lating to  military,  financial,  judicial  or  foreign  affairs.  Finally 
it  has  come  to  mean  that  part  of  the  administration  of  internal 
affairs  which  attempts  to  prevent  the  happening  of  evil  and  to 
suppress  violations  of  the  law.  This  is  the  sense  in  which  the 
word  is  most  commonly  used  now-a-days,  though  the  habit  of 
referring  to  the  officers  whose  main  duty  is  the  preservation  of 
the  peace  as  policemen  has  caused  it  to  be  thought  that  police 
is  confined  to  the  preservation  of  the  peace. 

258 


POLICE  ADMINISTRATION  259 

Using  the  term  police  as  indicating  that  governmental  func- 
tion which  is  exercised  in  order  to  preserve  the  public  safety 
through  actions  somewhat  repressive  in  character,  we  may  di- 
vide police  functions  into  three  classes,  to  which  we  may  give 
the  names  of  legislative,  judicial  and  administrative. 

Legislative  police  functions  are  discharged  by  the  issue  of 
general  ordinances  in  the  interest  of  the  public  safety.  This 
matter  has  already  been  discussed  in  what  has  been  said  relative 
to  the  powers  of  city  councils.  All  that  need  be  said  here  is  to 
call  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  local  police  ordinance  power 
is  in  England,  the  United  States  and  Italy  delegated  by  the  state 
to  the  city,  and  as  a  rule  is  exercised  by  the  city  council;  but 
that  in  France  and  Germany  it  is  regarded  more  as  a  state  than 
as  a  local  function  and  when  exercised  by  a  local  officer  is 
exercised  by  him  under  state  control,  and  that  it  is  not  vested 
in  the  city  council  but  rather  in  the  executive  authorities.  In 
a  number  of  the  cities  in  the  United  States,  authorities  other 
than  the  council  and  executive  in  character  discharge  these  legis- 
lative police  functions. 

By  judicial  police  we  mean  the  punishment  of  violations  of 
police  laws  and  ordinances.  The  functions  of  judicial  police 
resemble  very  closely  the  functions  discharged  by  the  criminal 
courts;  and  it  is  often  the  case  that  they  are  discharged  by  the 
lower  instances  of  the  criminal  courts,  or  that  police  courts  are 
invested  not  merely  with  police  functions  but  with  minor  crimi- 
nal jurisdiction  as  well.  We  shall,  therefore,  in  our  discussion 
of  judicial  police  touch  also  upon  the  criminal  judicial  func- 
tions which  are  in  exceptional  cases  discharged  by  municipal 
officers. 

By  administrative  police  we  mean  the  protection  of  the  public 
safety.  While  one  of  the  main  functions  of  administrative 
police  is  the  preservation  of  the  peace  and  the  maintenance  of 
order,  the  word  has  a  much  wider  meaning.  Under  the  head- 
ing of  administrative  police  will  be  discussed  not  only  the  main- 
tenance of  order  but  also  sanitary  police,  building  police,  fire 
protection  and  police  of  public  safety  generally,  all  of  which 
are  commonly  in  American  cities  comprehended  in  the  functions 
of  the  department  of  public  safety  and  the  department  of 


260  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

health.  Judicial  police  will  be  first  taken  up  and  conditions  will 
be  studied  especially  as  they  exist  in  England  and  the  United 
States. 

Judicial  Police. — English  Judicial  Organization.  Whatever 
may  have  been  the  original  powers  of  English  cities  in  the  mat- 
ter of  justice  and  judicial  police,  with  the  development  of  the 
royal  courts  and  the  justices  of  the  peace,  cities  and  city  officers 
as  such  lost  all  such  functions.  It  is  true  that  persons 
who  in  other  capacities  may  have  acted  as  city  officers 
did  in  the  larger  cities  of  England  discharge  these  functions; 
but  they  did  so  because  a  special  commission  of  the  peace  had 
been  granted  to  them  by  the  Crown,  but  not  because  they  were 
city  officials.  The  Municipal  Corporations  Act  of  1835  pre- 
served this  general  system  and  secured  to  the  Crown  the  right 
of  appointing  all  the  officers,  except  the  mayor  and  the  ex-mayor, 
who  in  the  cities  exercised  these  judicial  and  police  functions. 
In  order  to  understand  the  system  a  word  explanatory  of  the 
general  judicial  police  system  throughout  England  is  necessary. 

In  every  county  there  are  officers  exercising  judicial  police 
functions,  called  justices  of  the  peace.  They  act,  roughly  speak- 
ing, in  two  capacities.  They  are  at  the  same  time  members  of 
a  county  court,  called  the  court  of  quarter  sessions,  and  act, 
either  singly  or  in  pairs,  in  courts  which  are  called  petty  and 
special  sessions.  The  county  court  of  quarter  sessions  is  in  the 
first  place  a  court  of  appeal  for  minor  criminal  and  adminis- 
trative cases,  and  in  the  second  place  a  court  of  original  juris- 
diction for  the  more  important  criminal  cases  not  of  a  capital 
character.  The  courts  of  petty  and  special  sessions  are  courts 
of  first  instance  for  minor  criminal,  police  and  administrative 
cases  and  the  justices  acting  singly  in  petty  sessions  have  police 
jurisdiction  and  act  as  committing  magistrates.  Each  of  the 
justices,  and  the  court  of  quarter  sessions  as  well,  has,  unless 
some  exception  is  made,  jurisdiction  of  the  entire  county,  as  well 
in  the  urban  as  in  the  rural  parts.  If  an  exception  is  made 
by  what  is  called  a  non-int<romittant  clause  inserted  in  the  com- 
missions of  the  ordinary  county  justices,  then  there  may  be  a 
special  judicial  organization  for  the  borough.  In  that  case  the 
borough  may  have  simply  its  own  justices  or  it  may  also  have 


POLICE  ADMINISTRATION  261 

its  court  of  quarter  sessions  and  the  county  justices  and  the 
county  quarter  sessions  will  not  have  jurisdiction  within  the 
borough. 

Judicial  Police  in  English  Cities.  The  present  Municipal  Cor- 
porations Act  provides  first,  that  the  Crown  may,  on  the  petition 
of  a  council  of  a  borough,  grant  to  the  borough  a  separate  com- 
mission of  the  peace  and  assign  to  any  persons  a  royal  commis- 
sion to  act  as  justices  in  and  for  such  borough,  when  they  shall 
have,  with  respect  to  offences  committed  and  to  matters  arising 
within  the  borough,  the  same  jurisdiction -and  authority  as  county 
justices  have  for  the  county,  except  that  they  shall  not  by  virtue 
of  a  borough  commission  act  on  the  county  court  of  quarter  ses- 
sions.1 These  borough  justices  serve  without  pay  and  practically 
for  life,  though  legally  their  term  is  during  the  pleasure  of  the 
Crown. 

Second,  the  Crown  may,  on  a  like  petition  of  a  borough 
council,  appoint  one  or  more  stipendiary  magistrates  who  shall 
be  barristers  of  seven  years'  standing  and  who  shall  hold  office 
during  the  pleasure  of  the  Crown  and  shall  be  paid  a  salary 
not  exceeding,  except  with  the  consent  of  the  council,  an  amount 
mentioned  in  the  petition  asking  for  the  appointment  of  such 
magistrate,  which  amount  shall  be  fixed  from  time  to  time  by 
the  Crown.2 

Third,  the  Crown  may,  on  a  like  petition  of  a  borough  council, 
grant  to  a  borough  a  separate  court  of  quarter  sessions  on  such 
terms  as  may  seem  fit  to  the  Crown  in  Council,  and  appoint  a 
recorder  of  the  borough  who  shall  be  a  barrister  of  five  years' 
standing,  shall  hold  office  during  good  behavior  and  shall  receive 
a  salary  not  exceeding  an  amount  to  be  stated  in  the  petition, 
which  amount  is  fixed  by  the  Crown,  but  may  be  increased  by  a 
resolution  of  the  borough  council  approved  by  the  secretary 
of  the  state.  One  person  may  be  appointed  recorder  for  two 
or  more  boroughs  conjointly.  The  court  of  the  recorder  shall 
have  the  same  jurisdiction,  except  as  to  certain  enumerated  ad- 
ministrative matters,  as  an  ordinary  county  court  of  quarter 

1  Consolidated  Municipal  Corporations  Act  of  1882,  §§  156  to  158. 

2  Ibid.,  §  181. 


262  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

sessions.3  A  borough  having  a  separate  court  of  quarter  ses- 
sions is  freed  from  most  of  the  county  expenses,  but  has  itself 
to  pay  all  expenses  of  criminal  trials  in  the  borough.4 

It  will  be  seen  from  this  description  that  the  present  system 
of  judicial  police  in  England,  so  far  as  it  affects  the  cities,  is 
based  upon  the  idea  that  judicial  police  is  a  matter  of  state 
rather  than  of  municipal  concern,  but  that  it  may  be  necessary 
to  modify  the  general  system  existing  throughout  the  country 
so  as  to  suit  the  conditions  in  the  urban  districts  by  substituting 
professional  paid  officials  such  as  stipendiary  magistrates  and 
salaried  recorders  for  unpaid  popular  justices  upon  whom  re- 
liance is  placed  throughout  the  country  as  a  whole.  The  neces- 
sity of  modifying  the  details  of  the  general  system  on  account 
of  the  peculiar  conditions  of  urban  districts,  has  not,  however, 
had  the  result  of  making  judicial  police  a  municipal  function, 
in  the  sense  that  it  is  to  be  discharged  by  municipal  officers.  The 
law  is  careful  to  keep  the  appointment  and  as  well  the  fixing  of 
the  salary  of  judicial  police  officers  in  cities  in  the  hands  of  the 
central  government,  which  can  thus  see  to  it  that  a  proper  salary 
is  provided  for  professional  police  magistrates  and  that  persons 
are  appointed  who  will  not  permit  local  prejudices  to  affect  the 
discharge  of  their  functions. 

Judicial  Police  in  the  United  States.  A  study  of  the  develop- 
ment of  municipal  institutions  in  the  United  States  shows  that 
the  earlier  American  charters,  in  accordance  with  the  English 
ideas  of  the  time,  vested  judicial  police  functions  in  certain  of 
the  city  officers,  namely,  the  mayor,  recorder  and  aldermen.  The 
history  of  judicial  development  in  the  city  of  New  York  illus- 
trates the  experience  of  the  older  cities  of  the  country.  In 
New  York  these  officers  were  declared  by  the  Montgomerie  Char- 
ter of  1730  to  be  justices  of  the  peace,  and  were  to  hold  four 
times  a  year  courts  of  general  sessions  of  the  peace  with  juris- 
diction to  inquire  into,  hear  and  determine  crimes  and  misde- 
meanors in  like  manner  as  justices  of  the  peace  in  their  quarter 
sessions  in  England  might  do.  They  were  also  to  be  justices 
of  Oyer  and  Terminer  and  Gaol  Delivery  and  had  power  to 

3  Consolidated  Municipal  Corporations  Act  of  1882,  §§  162  to  165. 

4  Hid.,  §  169. 


POLICE  ADMINISTRATION  263 

arrest  vagabonds,  idle  and  suspicious  persons  and  commit  them 
to  the  workhouse  or  to  Bridewell,  for  a  limited  period. 

In  addition  to  this  criminal  jurisdiction  they  had  the  power 
to  try  civil  causes,  real,  personal  and  mixed,  arising  within 
the  city.  That  is,  the  mayor,  recorder  and  aldermen  had,  acting 
either  singly  or  in  courts  of  which  the  mayor  or  recorder  must 
always  be  one,  a  full  criminal  and  civil  jurisdiction  within  the 
limits  of  the  City  of  New  York,  as  a  result  of  this  special  grant 
to  them  of  these  judicial  powers  by  the  Crown. 

By  an  act  of  1788  courts  of  Oyer  and  Terminer  and  General 
Gaol  Delivery  in  the  city  were  to  be  held  by  a  justice  of  the 
state  supreme  court  sitting  with  the  mayor,  recorder  and  alder- 
men. The  preservation  of  the  peace  was  still  looked  upon,  in 
a  measure  at  least,  as  a  local  function,  since  the  mayor,  recorder 
and  aldermen  were  continued  as  conservators  of  the  peace.  They 
were,  however,  to  be  assisted  by  special  justices  who  were  at  first 
appointed  by  the  governor,  later  by  the  city  council,  but  in  1846 
were  made  elective.  Two  years  later  the  city  was  divided  into 
districts  in  each  of  which  was  elected  a  police  justice  with  the 
powers  of  the  special  justices  for  preserving  the  peace  of  the  city. 
Though  the  mayor,  recorder  and  aldermen  seem  to  have  con- 
tinued for  a  time  to  have  magisterial  power  which  they  seldom 
if  ever  used,  petty  criminal  jurisdiction  was  by  the  foregoing 
law  transferred  from  the  executive  and  legislative  branches  of 
the  city  government  and  vested  in  a  separate  police  court.  The 
petty  civil  jurisdiction  of  the  mayor,  recorder  and  aldermen 
was,  as  early  as  1791,  encroached  upon,  when  assistant  justices 
were  created  to  relieve  the  magistrates,  and  the  magistrates 
were  forbidden  to  exercise  minor  judicial  functions. 

The  higher  civil  and  criminal  jurisdiction  of  city  judicial 
officers  was  likewise  abridged  by  an  act  of  1821  which  created  a 
"court  of  common  pleas  or  county  court"  and  a  "court  of 
general  sessions  of  the  peace."  The  judges  of  both  were  to  be 
a  first  judge  appointed  by  the  governor  and  the  council  of  ap- 
pointment, the  assistant  justices  already  created  and  the  mayor, 
recorder  and  aldermen.  This  act  clearly  recognizes  the  higher 
civil  and  criminal  jurisdiction  in  the  city  as  a  state  function 
though  the  city  magistrates  still  shared  in  its  exercise.  It  was 


264  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

made  the  special  duty  of  the  first  judge  to  hold  the  court  of 
common  pleas.  The  court  of  common  pleas  ultimately  was 
merged  with  the  regular  system  of  state  courts.  The  act  of  1821 
likewise  provided  that  the  recorder  should  hold  the  court  of 
general  sessions,  and  this  he  has  until  recently  continued  to 
do.  He  was  later  divested  of  all  administrative  functions  and 
made  a  purely  judicial  officer.  The  aldermen  have  now  lost 
all  judicial  authority  and  the  mayor  is  a  magistrate  only  in 
name. 

With  respect  to  their  selection  the  history  of  city  judicial 
officers  does  not  differ  materially  from  that  of  the  administrative 
officers.  The  democratic  movement  of  the  middle  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  brought  about  the  election  of  officers  both  admin- 
istrative and  judicial  by  the  people.  The  elective  principle 
worked  as  badly  for  judicial  as  for  administrative  officers,  but 
the  selection  of  the  former  being  fixed  in  the  constitution  it  was 
more  difficult  to  secure  a  reform.  Whereas  the  heads  of  admin- 
istrative departments  were  made  appointive  in  1853,  it  was  not 
until  1873  that  the  power  of  appointing  police  justices  was 
conferred  upon  the  mayor  and  aldermen.  The  selection  of 
judicial  officers  is  now  vested  in  part  in  the  voters  at  the  polls 
and  in  part  in  the  mayor. 

So  far  as  other  cities  of  the  United  States  are  concerned,  their 
experience  has  been  very  similar  to  that  of  New  York  during 
the  nineteenth  century.  To-day  there  is  considerable  variety  in 
practice.  Sometimes  the  judicial  police  officers  of  the  city  are 
appointed  by  the  governor  of  the  state  or  the  state  legislature,  as 
in  the  New  England  states,  sometimes  by  the  city  council,  as  in 
the  southern  states,  or  by  the  mayor  and  council  or  by  the 
mayor  alone  as  in  many  eastern  states  and  sometimes  elected 
by  the  people  as  in  Philadelphia  and  generally  through  the 
middle  western  and  far  western  states.  In  some  states  the 
mayors  of  the  smaller  cities  are  still  ex-officio  city  judges. 

Juvenile  Courts.  Within  recent  years  attempts  have  been 
made  in  some  of  the  larger  cities  of  the  United  States  to  provide, 
in  addition  to  the  ordinary  minor  criminal  courts,  certain  spe- 
cialized courts.  Best  known  among  these  is  the  juvenile  court. 
The  purpose  of  providing  such  special  children's  courts  is  to 


POLICE  ADMINISTRATION  265 

prevent  the  association  of  offenders  of  immature  years  with 
habitual  adult  offenders,  and  also  to  prevent  the  development, 
in  the  mind  of  the  youthful  offender,  of  the  idea  that  he  is  a 
criminal.  Closely  connected  with  these  courts  is  the  system  of 
probation  officers  for  whom  provision  has  been  made  in  a  number 
of  the  larger  cities.  These  officers  are  appointed  by  the  minor 
criminal  courts,  very  frequently  on  the  nomination  of  the  volun- 
tary associations  whose  purpose  is  the  amelioration  of  the  lot 
of  the  criminal  and  dependent  classes.  When  a  youthful  of- 
fender is  convicted  of  a  criminal  offense  by  one  of  these  minor 
criminal  courts,  the  judge  by  authority  of  the  statute  suspends 
sentence  and  hands  over  the  person  convicted  to  the  charge  of  a 
probation  officer.  In  such  case  the  person  so  placed  in  charge 
of  the  probation  officer  must  report  periodically  to  him.  Such 
reports  finally  come  to  the  judge  who,  if  they  are  satisfactory, 
may  in  the  end  discharge  the  offender.  This  method  of  deal- 
ing with  juvenile  cases  has  been  so  successful  that  it  has  been 
applied  to  some  extent  to  adult  first  offenders,  especially  those 
charged  with  drunkenness,  and  with  good  results. 

Organization  and  Functions  of  Municipal  Courts.  The  organ- 
ization and  powers  of  these  lower  city  courts,  and  particularly 
of  those  having  criminal  jurisdiction,  are  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant subjects  connected  with  the  study  of  city  government. 
For  the  great  mass  of  city  people  come  into  relations  only  with 
these  courts.  If  these  courts  are  corrupt  or  inefficient,  justice 
for  the  great  mass  of  those  people  is  but  a  misnomer.  And  yet, 
notwithstanding  the  transcendent  importance  of  the  subject, 
it  has  aroused  little  discussion  on  tfce  part  of  the  writers  on 
city  government,  who  have  very  generally  confined  their  atten- 
tion to  the  general  problem  of  municipal  organization,  or  have 
considered  in  the  main  the  problem  of  municipal  functions. 

There  are  few  points  in  which  city  government  in  the  United 
States  remains  in  so  unsatisfactory  a  condition  as  in  its  courts. 
The  system  was  created  generations  ago  in  surroundings  quite 
different  from  those  existing  in  the  cities  of  today,  and  has 
proved  sadly  inadequate  to  the  needs  of  modern  urban  communi- 
ties. The  general  criticisms  directed  within  recent  years  against 
courts  in  general  have  in  large  measure  been  shared  by  those  of 


266  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

the  cities,  and,  indeed,  some  of  the  evils  inveighed  against  have 
been  most  conspicuous  in  city  courts.  Furthermore  the  admin- 
istration of  justice  in  large  cities  presents  problems  not  appear- 
ing elsewhere.  The  faults  of  the  administration  of  justice  in 
cities  are  with  respect  to  both  organization  and  procedure. 

The  most  conspicuous  fault  of  organization  is  that  there  are 
several  courts  existing  independently  side  by  side.  In  many 
instances  the  judicial  organization  of  the  rural  districts  has  been 
preserved  in  the  cities.  This  has  brought  into  the  city  the  jus- 
tice of  the  peace  usually  elected  and  almost  invariably  unlearned 
in  the  law,  whose  court,  frequently  having  concurrent  jurisdic- 
tion with  the  city  courts  of  first  instance,  too  often  becomes  an 
instrument  of  petty  tyranny  rather  than  a  fountain  of  justice. 

It  has  been  the  custom,  as  business  has  increased  beyond  the 
capacity  of  existing  courts,  to  create  new  ones,  each  independent 
of  all  others,  each  having  its  own  judges  and  its  own  particular 
jurisdiction.  The  creation  of  juvenile  courts,  mentioned  above, 
is  one  manifestation  of  this  tendency.  Legislatures  have  per- 
sisted in  legislating  upon  the  details  of  such  judicial  organiza- 
tion, specifying  both  the  structure  of  the  courts  and  the  powers 
and  duties  of  the  judges.  The  result  is  inflexibility  of  organiza- 
tion, division  of  responsibility  and  conflict  of  jurisdiction. 
Judges  whose  duties  are  light  are  without  power  or  incentive 
to  assist  in  other  courts  whose  dockets  are  overburdened  with 
cases.  Under  such  an  organization  there  can  develop  no  unity 
of  purpose,  no  esprit  de  corps  which  may  inspire  excellence 
or  a  sense  of  common  responsibility. 

Likewise  has  the  legislature  sought  to  circumscribe  judicial 
action  by  enacting  detailed  codes  of  procedure.  Every  situation 
in  litigation  is  sought  to  be  anticipated  in  a  system  of  procedural 
rules  which  leaves  the  judge  so  little  freedom  of  action  that  he 
becomes  merely  an  umpire  in  a  contest  between  the  attorneys. 
The  result  is  frequently  such  delays  and  general  inefficiency 
as  to  amount  in  many  cases  to  a  denial  of  justice. 

To  remedy  the  situation  it  has  been  proposed  by  some  who 
have  carefully  studied  the  subject  that  the  courts  of  the  city 
should  be  consolidated  into  one  great  municipal  court  of  which 
all  the  judges  should  be  members.  In  the  case  of  the  smaller 


POLICE  ADMINISTRATION  267 

cities  it  is  proposed  that  the  county  courts  similarly  reorganized 
should  be  consolidated  with  the  city  courts.  Such  a  court  would 
be  made  up  of  branches  devoted  to  specialized  subjects  such  as 
juvenile  cases,  morals,  traffic,  domestic  relations,  quasi-criminal 
cases  and  criminal  cases.  At  the  head  of  the  unified  court  would 
be  a  chief  judge  vested  with  general  administrative  authority 
over  the  work  of  the  whole  court,  including  power  to  establish 
branches,  assign  judges  and  prepare  dockets.  The  chief  judge 
alone  or  together  with  certain  of  the  other  judges  should  have 
power  to  make  rules  of  procedure,  and  appoint  officers  of  the 
court.  Under  this  arrangement  flexibility  of  organization  is 
secured  to  the  end  that  judges  may  be  assigned  to  the  particular 
branches  for  which  their  interest  or  special  talents  might  fit  them, 
and  may  in  emergencies  be  transferred  from  branch  to  branch 
to  relieve  congestion  of  the  dockets.  Rules  of  procedure  made 
by  the  court  tend  to  suit  the  real  needs  and  make  justice  more 
speedy  than  those  enacted  by  legislative  bodies.  Moreover  they 
may  be  more  readily  changed  to  meet  new  conditions. 

Under  the  existing  organization  there  has  been  no  one  author- 
ized to  perform  the  administrative  work  placed  by  this  plan  upon 
the  chief  judge.  Under  the  proposed  plan  an  administrative 
force  would,  under  the  direction  of  the  chief  judge,  prepare  the 
dockets,  and  compile  statistics,  as  is  done  in  most  foreign  countries, 
upon  social  and  criminal  matters  coming  before  the  courts. 
Recent  advances  in  psychology  and  penology  reveal  the  fact 
that  crime  is  intimately  connected  with  defectiveness  and  social 
environment.  Were  the  court  provided  with  a  psychopathic 
laboratory  manned  by  specialists  the  results  of  its  investigations 
would  prove  an  invaluable  aid  in  determining  responsibility  for 
crime.  Taken  together  with  the  statistical  records  before  sug- 
gested the  results  of  these  investigations  would  furnish  a  scien- 
tific basis  for  legislation  upon  the  subjects  of  charities  and 
corrections  such  as  we  do  not  now  possess. 

Municipal  courts  conforming  in  organization  and  functions 
more  or  less  closely  to  the  plan  here  outlined  have  been  set  up  in 
some  of  our  larger  cities,  and  those  of  Chicago  and  Cleveland 
have  been  conspicuously  successful  in  their  operations. 

'Selection  of  City  Judges.     Since  in  so  great  measure  the  success 


268  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

of  a  court  depends  upon  its  personnel,  the  method  of  selection 
of  judges  is  of  prime  importance.  The  solution  of  this  problem 
so  far  reached  has  been  far  from  satisfactory.  It  is  certain, 
however,  that  in  large  cities  the  worst  possible  solution  of  the 
question  is  the  popular  election  of  the  minor  judges,  particularly 
the  police  judges.  The  evil  is  aggravated  where  the  election 
is  by  districts.  The  almost  invariable  result  of  the  election- 
district  system,  in  the  conditions  which  prevail  in  our  large 
cities,  is  the  election  as  police  judges  of  a  bad  type  of  ward 
politicians.  Appointment  by  the  mayor  has  produced  some- 
what better  results,  particularly  where  the  mayor  has  been  con- 
fined to  the  appointment  of  members  of  the  bar  of  a  certain 
number  of  years'  standing.  But  the  experience  of  the  City 
of  New  York  goes  to  show  that  this  method  of  filling  the  office 
may  result  in  the  existence  of  a  police  bench  which  is  a  dis- 
grace to  a  community  which  flatters  itself  that  it  is  either  civ- 
ilized or  enlightened.  Conditions  in  New  York  have  been  so 
bad  under  the  system  of  mayoral  appointments  that  the  legisla- 
ture has  been  obliged  to  step  in  and  legislate  the  entire  force  of 
police  judges  out  of  office. 

Indeed,  it  would  seem  that  local  executive  appointment  or 
local  election  of  police  judges  in  the  larger  cities  of  the  United 
States  was  not  the  proper  way  of  filling  these  offices.  State  ap- 
pointment, which  is  the  rule  in  New  England,  would  seem  to 
have  secured  better  results.  The  fact  that  such  a  method  has 
been,  e.  g.,  in  the  state  of  Massachusetts,  the  unchanged  rule  for 
a  long  time  would  seem  to  indicate  that  the  evil  conditions  ac- 
companying all  the  methods  tried  in  New  York  have  not  been 
present  under  the  method  of  central  state  appointment. 

Were  a  unified  court  to  be  created  the  chief  judge  might  well 
be  made  elective,  since  he  would  be  to  a  very  large  extent  for 
the  administrative  side  of  the  court's  work.  It  has  been  sug- 
gested, therefore,  that  he  might  be  given  power  to  appoint  the 
other  judges.  A  precedent  for  this  is  found  in  the  case  of  United 
States  commissioners  who,  in  the  federal  system  of  judicial  ad- 
ministration, exercise  functions  not  unlike  those  of  magistrates 
in  city  court  and  who  are  appointed  by  the  court.  An  alterna- 


POLICE  ADMINISTRATION  269 

tive  suggestion  is  that  the  chief  judge  or  the  members  of  the 
bar  should  nominate  candidates  from  among  whom  the  people 
or  the  governor  should  make  the  selection.  It  is  significant  to 
note  that  nowhere  except  in  our  American  states  is  the  attempt 
made  to  choose  judges  by  local  election.  In  Great  Britain, 
France  and  Germany,  all  officers  discharging  functions  similar 
to  those  exercised  by  petty  justices  are  appointed  by  the  central 
government. 

Judicial  Police  in  France.  In  France  the  same  distinction 
which  is  made  in  the  law  of  England  and  the  United  States  is 
made  between  administrative  and  judicial  police. J  The  organiza- 
tion of  the  police  courts  is  fixed  by  the  law  of  the  16th  to  the 
24th  of  August,  1790,  as  amended  by  the  law  of  the  29th  of 
Ventose  of  the  year  IX.  At  present  each  police  court  is  held 
by  a  justice  of  the  peace  appointed  and  removable  by  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Republic.  The  only  qualification-  is  that  he  must 
be  thirty  years  of  age.  In  Paris  and  the  larger  cities  there  is 
one  justice  of  the  peace  for  each  district  into  which  the  city 
is  divided.  In  Paris  there  are  twenty  of  these  districts. 

In  addition  to  certain  minor  civil  and  conciliatory  jurisdic- 
tion the  justice  of  the  peace  has  jurisdiction  in  police  offences 
punishable  with  a  fine  of  from  one  to  fifteen  francs  and  imprison- 
ment for  not  over  five  days.  He  is  also  to  investigate  crimes, 
gather  the  evidence  with  regard  to  them  and  to  commit  for  trial 
by  the  criminal  courts  persons  charged  therewith.  Appeals  may 
be  taken  from  the  convictions  of  the  justice  of  the  peace  to  the 
correctional  tribunal. 

There  is  one  of  these  correctional  tribunals  in  each  city.  In 
the  larger  cities  it  may  be  divided  into  chambers,  some  of  which 
are  civil  and  others  criminal.  In  Paris  there  are  seven  civil 
and  four  criminal  chambers.  In  the  smaller  cities  the  same 
judges  have  civil  and  criminal  jurisdiction  as  the  court  is  not 
divided  into  chambers.  These  courts  are  composed  as  a  rule  of 
three  judges  appointed  for  life  by  the  President  of  the  Republic. 
They  have,  in  addition  to  quite  a  large  civil  jurisdiction,  ap- 
pellate jurisdiction  of  the  convictions  of  the  justices  of  the 
peace  and  original  jurisdiction  of  the  more  important  police 


270  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

offences  punishable  with  more  than  fifteen  francs  fine  and  im- 
prisonment of  more  than  five  days.5 

Judicial  Police  in  Germany.  In  Germany  a  distinction,  similar 
to  the  one  which  is  made  commonly  in  England  and  the  United 
States  and  universally  in  France,  is  made  in  principle  between 
administrative  and  judicial  police.  But  in  Prussia  by  an  excep- 
tion administrative  police  officers,  who  are  appointed  either  by 
the  Crown,  or  by  the  city  council  subject  to  the  approval  of 
the  Crown,  may  impose  fines  up  to  fifteen  marks  and,  in  case 
of  failure  to  pay  the  fine,  imprisonment  up  to  three  days,  sub- 
ject to  an  appeal  to  be  taken  within  a  week  to  the  regular  courts. 
If  no  appeal  is  taken  the  decision  of  the  police  officer  goes  into 
effect.6 

The  more  important  offences,  which  in  the  United  States  and 
England  would  be  called  police  offences  but  which  in  Germany 
are  called  penal  offences,  fall  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
lowest  criminal  court  known  as  the  Amtsgericht,  held  by  a  judge 
appointed  for  life  by  the  Crown.7  He  acts  in  a  twofold  capacity. 
Acting  alone  he  is  a  judge  of  first  instance  with  a  minor  civil 
jurisdiction 8  and  a  committing  magistrate.9  Acting  as  a  crimi- 
nal court  of  first  instance  he  has  associated  with  him  two  lay 
assessors  or  schoffen.  These  are  non-professional  unpaid  offi- 
cers, judges  of  the  law  as  well  as  of  the  facts  and  have  the  same 
power  as  the  judge.10  The  assessors  resemble  very  closely  an 
English  petit  jury,  except  that  they  decide  questions  of  law 
as  well  as  fact.  They  are  selected  from  a  list  drawn  up  by  the 
executive  of  the  city.  At  the  time  the  list  is  made  up  the  days 
the  court  will  sit  for  the  coming  year  are  determined  upon  and 
the  order  in  which  the  assessors  will  be  called  upon  to  act  is 
fixed  by  lot.  The  failure  of  assessors  to  appear  at  the  proper 
time  is  punishable  by  fine.  These  courts  have  jurisdiction  of 
offences  which  are  punished  with  imprisonment  not  exceeding 
three  months  or  a  fine  not  exceeding  six  hundred  marks,  or 

s  Simonet,  "Droit  Public  et  Administratif,"  pp.  130,  131,  142. 

«  De  Grais,  "Verfassung  und  Verwaltung,"  etc.,  p.  270. 

7  Ibid.,  p.  223. 

a  Ibid.,  p.  220. 

»  Von  Ronne,  "Staatsrecht  der  Preussischen  Monarchic,"  Vol.  Ill,  p.  339. 

10  De  Grais,  op.  cit.,  p.  220. 


POLICE  ADMINISTRATION  271 

both.11  In  both  France  and  Germany  there  is  attached  to  these 
courts  as  to  all  criminal  courts  a  prosecuting  force.  In  France 
the  function  of  prosecuting  police  offences  is  entrusted  to  the 
commissaries  of  police  who  are  appointed  in  communes  of  over 
6,000  inhabitants,  on  the  basis  of  one  for  every  ten  thousand 
inhabitants  by  the  President  of  the  Republic.  It  does  not  seem 
to  be  necessary  that  they  shall  be  learned  in  the  law.  The  com- 
missaries of  police  may  be  removed  by  the  President  of  the 
Republic  and  may  be  suspended  by  the  prefect  of  the  department 
in  which  the  city  is  situated.12  In  Germany  officers  called 
state's  attorneys  are  appointed  by  the  Crown  for  life,  one  at 
least  for  each  Amtsgericht,  and  must  be  learned  in  the  law.13 

Two  Conceptions  of  Administrative  Police.  The  conception  of 
administrative  police  in  any  country  is  in  large  measure  depend- 
ent as  to  both  its  character  and  its  content  on  the  ideas  which 
have  been  and  are  now  entertained  in  that  particular  country 
on  the  extent  of  the  police  power  which  the  government  as  a 
whole  shall  exercise.  In  general  these  ideas  are  two  in  number. 
In  the  first  place,  among  some  peoples,  of  which  the  English 
may  be  taken  as  an  example,  the  fundamental  idea  of  police 
power  was  originally  that  it  consisted  merely  in  the  power  of 
repression.  Police  legislation  was  conceived  of  as  a  body  of 
law  which  prohibits  certain  actions  regarded  as  prejudicial  to 
the  public  welfare. 

Opposed  to  this  fundamental  English  idea  was  the  second  idea 
entertained  on  the  continent  generally,  that  the  state  should,  in 
addition  to  taking  all  necessary  repressive  measures,  resort  as 
well  to  preventive  measures.  The  law  was  conceived  of  as  a  rule 
of  conduct  which  should  not  only  prohibit  actions  prejudicial 
to  the  public  welfare  but  also  prescribe  the  performance  of  acts 
which  if  performed  made  unnecessary  resort  to  repression. 

This  difference  in  ideas  as  to  the  police  functions  of  the  state 
was  due  in  all  probability  to  the  fact  that  liberal  political  ideas 
were  developed  earlier  in  England  than  on  the  continent.  On 
the  continent,  on  the  contrary,  the  royal  power  was,  until  the 

11  Von  Ronne,  op.  cit.,  pp.  338,  339. 

12  Berthelemy,  "Traite  du  Droit  Administratif,"  p.  324. 
is  De  Grais,  op.  cit.,  p.  224. 


272  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

middle  of  the  nineteenth  century,  personal  and  absolute  rather 
than  constitutional  and  limited.  On  the  continent,  it  was  be- 
lieved to  be  necessary  to  impose  a  restraint  on  individual  free- 
dom of  action  in  the  formation  of  associations  and  the  expres- 
sion of  opinion  on  political  matters,  and  resort  was  had  to  pre- 
ventive measures  through  which  attempts  at  political  change 
could  be  nipped  in  the  bud.  Forces  of  a  police  character  were 
organized  whose  duty  it  was  to  exercise  a  supervision  over  those 
classes  most  liable  to  attempt  to  bring  about  a  change  in  existing 
political  institutions.  With  the  development  of  constitutional 
government  on  the  continent,  the  arbitrary  powers  of  police  au- 
thorities with  regard  to  the  freedom  of  speech  and  association 
were  limited  by  legal  provisions  guaranteeing  such  freedom 
under  conditions  clearly  set  forth  in  the  law.  But  in  the  mean- 
time it  had  come  to  be  recognized  that  the  police  might  properly 
take  preventive  measures  with  regard  to  the  classes  considered 
dangerous  to  the  community.  These  were  now  rather  the  ordi- 
nary criminal  classes  than  the  classes  desiring  political  change. 
The  result  is  that  the  law  on  the  continent  grants  to  police 
authorities  large  powers  of  supervision  over  the  population  which 
are  of  the  greatest  value  in  preventing  and  detecting  crime, 
in  addition  to  the  purely  repressive  powers  which  are  used  in 
conjunction  with  the  courts  in  punishing  those  responsible  for 
crimes  already  committed. 

In  England,  however,  constitutional  government  was  estab- 
lished so  early,  and  the  right  of  freedom  of  association  and 
speech  was  so  early  recognized  that  no  political  police  sys- 
tem similar  to  that  to  be  found  on  the  continent  was  developed. 
England  was,  it  is  true,  the  first  European  country  to  estab- 
lish an  effective  system  for  the  preservation  of  the  peace  and 
the  detection  and  punishment  of  crime  in  the  larger  cities.  But 
when  that  system  was  established  great  fear  was  entertained, 
as  will  be  shown,  as  to  the  effect  on  English  freedom  of  the  new 
police  force.  For  that  reason  it  was  not  vested  with  preventive 
powers  similar  to  those  exercised  on  the  continent.  English 
police  officers  do  not  even  now  either  possess  or  exercise  the 
powers  of  supervision  which  the  present  continental  police  forces 


POLICE  ADMINISTRATION  273 

possess  and  exercise  over  the  classes  believed  to  be  criminal. 

When,  however,  English  social  conditions  increased  in  com- 
plexity owing  to  the  development  of  commerce  and  industry  and 
the  massing  of  people  in  cities  consequent  thereupon,  the  Eng- 
lish law  began  to  change.  It  was  seen  that  repressive  measures 
were  insufficient  to  safeguard  the  interests  of  urban  popula- 
tions, whose  health  and  general  welfare  were  being  imperilled  by 
the  great  industrial  revolution  which  was  taking  place.  Eng- 
land therefore  about  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century  en- 
acted public  health  laws  >and  provided  a  public  health  adminis- 
tration based  upon  the  idea  of  prevention  as  well  as  repression. 

For  fully  fifty  years  nothing  was  done  on  the  continent  for  the 
protection  of  the  public  health  and  safety  comparable  to  what 
was  done  in  England.  The  hesitation  evinced  by  continental 
countries  in  following  the  English  example  was  not  due  to  the 
feeling  that  preventive  measures  as  such  were  improper,  since 
as  has  been  seen,  the  police  of  the  criminal  classes  was  based 
on  the  idea  of  prevention.  This  hesitation,  while  undoubtedly 
partly  due  to  the  fact  that  the  continent  did  not  feel  the  effects 
of  the  industrial  revolution  so  soon  as  England,  was  unquestion- 
ably caused  also  by  the  consideration  that  preventive  measures 
in  the  interest  of  the  public  health  involved  serious  limitations 
of  the  right  of  property.  Preventive  measures  with  regard  to 
the  criminal  classes  involved  only  a  limitation  of  the  right  of 
individual  liberty.  These  the  property-owning  classes,  who  con- 
trolled the  government,  did  not  resent  since  such  measures  did 
not  ^affect  these  classes,  and  at  the  same  time  increased  the  se- 
curity of  property.  But  with  the  development  of  liberalism  the 
property-owning  classes  of  the  continent  had  to  accept  the  limi- 
tation of  their  property  rights,  made  necessary  by  the  protection 
of  the  public  health,  and  now  the  law  of  both  England  and  the 
continental  states  is  in  the  case  of  the  police  of  health  and  safety 
based  on  the  idea  of  prevention  as  well  as  of  repression. 

In  the  United  States  ideas  as  to  the  repressive  character  of  the 
police  functions  of  the  state,  which  were  inherited  from  Eng- 
land, were  held  longer  even  than  in  the  mother  country.  This 
was  quite  natural,  because  American  commercial  and  industrial 


274  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

development  is  a  comparatively  recent  thing  and  even  now  has 
not  reached  the  complexity  to  be  found  in  Europe.  But  even  in 
the  United  States  the  development  of  urban  conditions,  which 
has  been  so  marked,  has  resulted  in  our  accepting,  particularly 
in  the  domain  of  public  health  and  safety,  the  idea  of  prevention 
as  a  necessary  one.  In  the  United  States,  however,  as  well  as 
in  England,  the  police  forces  never  obtained  those  powers  of 
supervision  over  the  population  which  are  so  characteristic  of 
continental  police  forces. 

Practical  Results  of  the  Two  Conceptions.  Since  the  English 
speaking  peoples  did  not  originally  conceive  of  the  police  power 
as  embracing  both  repression  and  prevention,  in  both  England 
and  the  United  States  the  organization  adopted  for  the  work  of 
repression  is  separate  from  and  independent  of  the  organizations 
charged  with  the  work  of  prevention  wherever  the  latter  work 
has  been  undertaken. 

Furthermore,  partly  at  any  rate  because  of  the  narrower  con- 
ception of  legislative  authority  on  the  continent  and  the  conse- 
quently wider  conception  of  the  extent  of  administrative  author- 
ity, police  authorities,  which  are  really  a  part  of  the  administra- 
tive organization  of  the  state,  are  in  continental  countries  en- 
dowed with  much  wider  powers  of  supplementary  legislation  or 
ordinance  than  is  the  case  in  England  or  the  United  States,  where 
by  the  theory  of  the  law  powers  of  police  ordinance  are  vested  in 
the  city  councils. 

Finally,  notwithstanding  the  gradual  recognition  in  Eng- 
land and  the  United  States  of  the  idea  that  the  power  of  the 
state  embraces  functions  of  prevention  as  well  as  repression,  in 
actual  practice  the  functions  of  prevention  are  less  important 
in  the  Anglo-American  countries  than  in  continental  European 
countries. 

The  concrete  effects  of  these  different  conceptions  of  police 
are :  first,  as  a  rule  both  in  England  and  the  United  States  the 
authorities  commonly  spoken  of  as  police  authorities,  i.e.,  the 
authorities  established  for  the  preservation  of  the  peace,  are 
entrusted  with  repressive  functions  only.  They  are  to  preserve 
the  peace,  detect  and  arrest  violators  of  the  law,  and  are  rarely 
called  upon  to  take  measures  intended  to  prevent  the  commission 


POLICE  ADMINISTRATION  275 

of  crime  through  the  supervision  of  the  classes  most  apt  to  be 
guilty  of  criminal  actions. 

Second:  the  head  of  the  police  system  in  English  and  Amer- 
ican cities  also  has  practically  no  ordinance  power  beyond  the 
power  to  adopt  regulations  as  to  the  conduct  of  police  officers, 
and  has  little  if  anything  to  do  with  the  enforcement  of  those 
measures  of  a  preventive  character  known  on  the  continent  as 
sanitary  police,  and  building  police,  which  under  the  Anglo- 
American  system,  are  as  a  rule  entrusted  to  special  authorities 
having  no  connection  with  the  distinctly  police  authorities. 

Finally,  under  the  Anglo-American  system  the  actual  prac- 
tice, whatever  may  be  the  legal  theory,  is  to  vest  the  police  power, 
in  the  narrow  sense  in  which  it  is  conceived  of,  in  distinctly 
municipal  authorities.  These  authorities  may  be  subjected  to  a 
state  control,  but  they  are  usually  really  local  rather  than  gen- 
eral in  character. 

On  the  continent,  however,  conditions  are  quite  different.  The 
authority  in  charge  of  the  police  in  cities,  even  if  he  be  locally 
selected,  is,  recognized  as  a  member  of  the  state  system,  has 
usually  jurisdiction  not  merely  over  the  police  force,  as  Ameri- 
cans understand  it,  but  as  well  over  sanitary,  building  and  other 
matters,  and  has  a  large  power  of  ordinance  as  well  as  of  issuing 
individual  orders  in  addition  to  the  power  of  arresting  violators 
of  the  law.  The  powers  of  a  preventive  character  which  he 
possesses  embrace  large  powers  of  supervision  over  the  city  popu- 
lation, the  exercise  of  which  in  the  present  condition  of  public 
opinion  would  be  resented  in  both  England  and  the  United 
States.  The  continental  police  thus  are  expected  to  supervise 
the  actions  of  non-residents  who  happen  to  be  in  the  city,  by  an 
examination  of  hotel  and  lodging  house  registers. 

Development  of  State  Police  Forces.  The  systematic  organiza- 
tion of  professional  disciplined  police  forces  in  the  narrow  sense 
in  which  those  words  are  popularly  used  has  only  very  recently 
been  undertaken  by  any  government.  Of  course  from  a  very 
early  time  the  attempt  was  made  to  provide  officers  for  the 
preservation  of  the  peace,  like  the  English  parish  constables  of 
whom  Shakespeare's  Dogberry  is  the  most  famous  example. 
There  was  nothing,  however,  very  systematic  about  the  system 


276  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

which  the  government  established,  and  its  action  was  not  at- 
tended with  great  success.  Besides  forming  a  police  organiza- 
tion similar  to  that  which  was  based  on  the  parish  constable  the 
governments  of  the  centuries  preceding  the  nineteenth  century 
placed  a  considerable  reliance  upon  the  army  for  the  preserva- 
tion of  order,  particularly  where  that  might  be  disturbed  as  the 
result  of  political  offences. 

The  first  serious  attempt  to  form  a  civil  police  force  which 
appears  to  have  been  made  was  made  by  the  French  govern- 
ment by  the  law  of  January  6  and  30,  1791.  This  law  organ- 
ized a  force  known  as  the  Gendarmerie,  which  was  only  par- 
tially of  a  civil  character.  The  detailed  organization  of  the 
force  was  provided  by  the  law  of  the  Republic  of  date  28  Germi- 
nal in  the  year  VI  (1798),  where  it  was  stated  that  the  duty  of 
the  force  was  "to  assure  the  maintenance  of  order  and  the  ex- 
ecution of  the  laws  throughout  the  Republic."  The  Gendar- 
merie is  at  the  same  time  a  military  and  a  civil  force.  It  is 
therefore  organized  in  a  military  fashion  and  is  at  the  same  time 
under  the  direction  of  the  minister  of  war  and  the  minister 
of  the  interior.  It  is  composed  of  persons  who  have  served  in 
the  army,  who  after  trial  have  shown  themselves  to  be  compe- 
tent to  do  the  work  required  of  them.  Their  military  duties 
are  mainly  those  done  in  English  and  American  armies  by  the 
provost-marshal's  guard;  that  is,  the  notification  to  the  proper 
authorities  of  offenses  against  the  military  law,  the  pursuit  and 
arrest  of  offenders  and  the  maintenance  of  good  order. 

Their  civil  duties  are  of  similar  character  and  are  discharged 
mainly  in  the  rural  districts.  In  the  discharge  of  their  duties 
these  officers  must  report  to  the  minister  of  war  a  series  of 
crimes  which  particularly  threaten  to  disturb  the  public  order, 
to  the  ministers  of  the  interior  and  of  justice  the  number  of  all 
arrests  made  with  all  necessary  details  and  to  the  minister  of 
the  interior  with  regard  to  the  supervision  which  is  entrusted 
to  them  of  the  criminal  and  vagabond  classes. 

The  Gendarmerie  are  always  subject  to  the  orders  of  the  civil 
authorities  and  their  chief  officer  in  the  department  must  re- 
port every  day  to  the  prefect  of  the  department,  who  in  case 
of  trouble  may  order  the  union  of  several  brigades  (there  is  a 


POLICE  ADMINISTRATION  277 

brigade  in  every  department)  at  the  place  where  the  disturbance 
may  take  place.14 

This  system  which  was  introduced  very  generally  on  the  conti- 
nent, was  adopted  in  Prussia  in  1812.  The  organization  and 
powers  of  the  Prussian  Gendarmerie  are  similar  to  what  they 
are  in  France,  except  that  the  members  of  the  force  are  con- 
fined to  civil  police  matters,  and  have  no  functions  to  discharge 
relative  to  the  army  which  has  its  own  force  for  the  discharge 
of  military  police  functions.15  Italy  has  a  similar  force  known 
as  the  Carbinierif  who  are  under  the  control  of  the  minister  of 
war  although  they  are  not  a  part  of  the  army.  There  is  also,  in 
Italy,  a  force  known  as  the  guards  of  public  security  under  the 
minister  of  the  interior  and  under  the  immediate  control  of  the 
prefects  of  the  provinces.  Their  duties  are  mainly  of  a  detective 
character.16 

England  possesses  no  such  state  police  system,  though  during 
the  course  of  the  nineteenth  century  there  was  established  a 
civil  county  police-  system  which  is  under  rather  complete  state 
supervision. 

In  the  United  States  as  in  England,  the  ordinary  work  of  pre- 
serving order  has  been  considered  -a  local  function.  Within  a 
few  years  there  has  arisen  a  demand  in  several  states  for  a  body 
of  police  under  state  control  to  supplement  the  local  forces. 
State  police  forces  of  one  sort  or  another  have  been  created  in 
not  less  than  thirteen  states.  While  in  some  of  the  states  the 
resulting  organizations  have  been  of  a  somewhat  rudimentary 
and  tentative  character,  elsewhere,  notably  in  Pennsylvania, 
Texas,  Nevada  and  New  York,  they  have  taken  the  form  of  a 
permanent  uniformed  and  semi-military  organization.  The 
problems  which  have  prompted  the  creation  of  these  forces  are : 
(1)  those  incident  to  frontier  life ;  (2)  the  lack  of  adequate  police 
protection  in  rural  districts;  (3)  the  fact  that  because  of  easy 
means  of  communication  crime  is  no  longer  local  in  character, 

i*  Block,  "Dictionaire  de  1'Administration  Frangaise,"  article  "Gendar- 
merie." 

is  Stengel,  "Worterbuch  des  Deutschen  Verwaltungsrechts,"  article  "Gen- 
darmerie." 

i«  Fairlie,  "Essays  in  Municipal  Administration,"  p.  332. 


278  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

and  (4)  a  desire  to  release  the  National  Guard  from  the  odium 
attaching  to  its  employment  on  police  duty,  particularly  in  con- 
nection with  labor  disturbances.  In  addition  to  the  ordinary 
work  of  police,  the  state  force  is  usually  employed  as  a  forest,  fish 
and  game  patrol,  and  in  the  enforcement  of  the  road  laws.17 

Local  Police — The  London  System.  The  first  important  attempt 
to  form  an  efficient  city  police  force  was  made  by  England  in 
1829  by  the  act  passed  to  improve  the  police  in  and  near  the 
metropolis  of  London.  The  metropolis  of  London  as  distin- 
guished from  the  City  of  London  had  grown  up  naturally  about 
the  "City"  through  the  settlement  of  persons  in  what  had  been 
rural  parishes.  As  the  population  of  these  parishes  had  in- 
creased and  it  was  seen  that  the  unmodified  rural  parish  organ- 
ization was  inapplicable  to  the  new  conditions,  special  acts  of 
parliament  were  passed  giving  particular  parishes  a  special  or- 
ganization. But  so  far  as  the  preservation  of  the  peace  was  con- 
cerned reliance  was  placed  in  the  main  on  the  parish  constable 
and  the  night  watchmen  who  had  jurisdiction  only  in  the  parish 
in  which  they  had  been  appointed.  Dr.  Colquhoun,  a  "city" 
police  magistrate,  drew  attention  in  the  latter  part  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century  to  the  bad  conditions  produced  by  such  a  system, 
in  a  book  entitled,  "The  Police,"  which  in  a  short  time  went 
through  several  editions.  Various  parliamentary  committees 
were  appointed  to  examine  into  the  subject  in  the  early  part  of 
the  nineteenth  century.  In  1828  a  commission  was  appointed  on 
the  suggestion  of  Sir  Robert  Peel,  who  was  then  Home  Secre- 
tary, and  in  1829  an  act  was  passed  which  took  out  of  the  hands 
of  the  parishes  surrounding  the  city  the  charge  of  the  police 
forces  and  provided  a  metropolitan  district,  as  it  was  called, 
which  ultimately  came  to  consist  of  all  the  country  within  a 
radius  of  fifteen  miles  from  Charing  Cross  and  in  which  a  new 
police  force  was  established.  The  police  of  the  city  of  London 
which  had  not  been  affected  by  the  act  of  1829  was  put  upon 
somewhat  the  same  basis  as  the  metropolitan  police  force  in  1839. 
The  fact  of  Sir  Robert  Peel's  connection  with  the  change  will 
always  be  associated  with  the  new  municipal  police  methods  from 

IT  The  State  Police  Problem  in  America,  Report  of  Bureau  of  State  Re- 
search, New  Jersey  State  Chamber  of  Commerce,  January,  1917. 


POLICE  ADMINISTRATION  279 

the  terms  "Bobby"  or  "Peeler,"  which,  originally  used  in  de- 
rision, have  since  come  to  be  applied  commonly  to  city  policemen 
almost  everywhere  that  English  is  spoken. 

This  reform  met  with  great  opposition.  The  committees  of 
parliament  which  in  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century 
had  examined  into  the  subject,  regarded  with  great  misgiving 
so  radical  a  change  in  the  historical  methods  of  maintaining 
order.  And  parliament  made  the  change  only  because  of  the 
increase  of  crime  everywhere  throughout  the  metropolitan  dis- 
trict. The  misgivings  of  those  responsible  for  the  change  were 
but  a  forecast  of  the  opposition  which  followed  its  adoption  on 
the  part  of  the  people.  The  "Peelers"  or  "Bobbies,"  as  they 
were  at  once  called,  were  greeted  on  the  streets  with  hisses  and 
hoots  of  disapproval,  and  cries  of  "Down  with  the  new  police," 
were  commonly  heard.  Only  four  years  after  the  passage  of 
the  act  came  the  Chartist  riot  in  Coldbath  Fields  when  three 
policemen  were  stabbed  and  one  killed.  The  coroner's  jury 
brought  in  a  verdict  of  "justifiable  homicide."  Committees  of 
parliament  were  then  appointed  to  inquire  into  the  conduct  of 
the  new  police  force,  approved  it,  and  popular  hostility  ulti- 
mately subsided.18 

The  main  characteristics  which  distinguished  the  new  methods 
from  those  which  they  superseded  were  three  in  number.  They 
were,  first,  the  professional  character  of  the  force.  The  old  sys- 
tem of  parish  constables  and  night  watchmen  had,  it  is  true, 
been  based  upon  paid  services,  but  the  service  was  paid  for  on 
such  a  low  scale  that  the  constables  and  watchmen  were  unable 
to  live  from  their  pay  alone.  The  new  force  in  addition  to  being 
much  more  numerous  than  the  old  received  larger  compensation 
and  were  expected  to  devote  their  entire  time  to  their  work. 
The  occupation  of  policeman  thus  became  a  definite  occupation, 
requiring  certain  specific  qualifications,  although  the  powers 
given  the  members  of  the  new  force  were  little  more  than  those 
possessed  by  parish  constables. 

The  second  characteristic  of  the  system  was  its  centralization. 
The  officers  at  the  head  of  the  new  force,  at  first  two  commis- 
sioners, later  one  commissioner  and  three  assistant  commission- 
is  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  article  "Police." 


280  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

ers,  who  were  given  the  powers  of  justices  of  the  peace,  were 
appointed  by  and  acted  under  the  immediate  direction  of  the 
home  secretary,  making  virtually  a  state  police  for  the 
metropolis. 

In  the  third  place  the  new  force  was  organized  on  a  semi-mili- 
tary plan  and  consisted  of  constables,  sergeants,  inspectors,  di- 
visional and  district  superintendents. 

At  the  time  of  the  formation  of  the  system  provision  was 
made  for  a  detective  force  which  is  known  as  the  criminal  in- 
vestigation department.  This  department  is  under  the  charge 
of  one  of  the  assistant  commissioners,  who  has  his  headquarters 
in  Scotland  Yard  with  officers  of  the  department  in  the  divisions 
of  the  metropolitan  district.  These  officers  have  assumed  a 
really  national  character  and  are  often  sent  all  over  the  country 
and  even  to  the  British  Colonies  and  foreign  states. 

The  Municipal  Corporations  Act  of  1835  contained  a  pro- 
vision by  which  this  system  might  be  extended  to  other  British 
boroughs,  although  the  management  of  the  forces  which  were  to 
be  thus  provided  was  to  be  left  in  local  control.  Subsequent  laws 
have,  by  grants  of  aid  from  the  central  government  to  the  bor- 
oughs and  counties,  which  attained  a  certain  degree  of  efficiency, 
to  be  evidenced  by  a  certificate  of  the  Home  Secretary,  brought 
about  the  formation  of  similar  forces  in  both  boroughs  and 
counties.  In  1839,  as  has  been  said,  a  police  force  for  the  City 
of  London  was  organized  on  pretty  nearly  the  same  basis,  al- 
though, like  the  borough  forces,  it  was  left  under  local  control. 

Early  American  Police  Systems.  In  the  United  States  at  the 
beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  conditions  which  existed 
in  the  cities  were  similar  to  those  in  England.  Reliance  was 
placed  almost  entirely  on  constables  and  night  watchmen.  A 
good  idea  of  the  conditions  in  one  of  the  large  cities  of  the 
United  States  is  given  by  Allinson  and  Penrose  in  their  "Philadel- 
phia. ' '  Here  it  is  said : 19  ' '  The  first  watchman  was  appointed  in 
1700  by  the  provincial  council  and  had  the  whole  care  of  the 
city  within  his  charge.  It  was  his  duty  to  go  through  the 
town  at  night  ringing  a  bell,  to  cry  out  the  time  of  night  and 
state  the  weather  and  to  inform  the  constables  of  any  disorder  or 

i»  Allinson  and  Penrose,  "Philadelphia,"  p.  34. 


POLICE  ADMINISTRATION  281 

fire.  In  1704  it  was  ordered  by  the  common  council  that  the 
city  be  divided  into  ten  precincts  and  that  watchmen  be  assigned 
to  each  constable  therein.  The  constable  was  the  principal  of- 
ficer of  the  watch.  The  watch  was  not  a  permanent  body  of  paid 
men,  but  every  able-bodied  housekeeper  was  supposed  to  take 
his  turn  and  watch  or  furnish  a  substitute.  .  .  .  The  system, 
however,  was  onerous  and  unsatisfactory.  .  .  .  At  length,  in 
1749,  the  complaint  concerning  the  want  of  a  sufficient  and  regu- 
lar watch  culminated.  It  was  complained  that  the  watch  was 
weak  and  insufficient  and  that  the  housekeepers  refused  to  pay 
the  watch  money  upon  the  pretence  that  they  would  attend  to  the 
watch  duty  when  warned,  but  frequently  neglected  to  do  so." 
In  1750  an  act  was  passed  granting  to  a  board  consisting  of  six 
wardens  to  be  annually  elected  the  power  to  appoint  and  pay  as 
many  watchmen  as  they  deemed  proper.  "In  conjunction  with 
the  mayor,  recorder  and  four  aldermen  they  were  to  fix  stands 
throughout  the  city  at  which  the  watchmen  were  to  be  posted  and 
to  have  general  control  of  the  watch.  The  constables  and  watch- 
men were  supplied  with  copies  of  the  rules  and  regulations.  The 
constables  reported  regularly  at  the  court  house  and  had  general 
superintendence  of  the  watchmen.  Neglect  or  violation  of  the 
police  rules  of  the  mayor,  recorder,  aldermen  and  watchmen  was 
punished  by  fine. ' '  The  system  was  not,  however,  at  all  satisfac- 
tory. "During  the  revolution  there  was  practically  no  police 
protection  to  the  city  apart  from  the  military  and  even  after  the 
act  of  1789  was  passed  the  same  radically  inadequate  system  con- 
tinued as  existed  under  the  charter  government.  The  police 
force,  if  we  may  use  the  term,  consisted  of  a  high  constable,  the 
constables,  the  watch  and  the  superintendent  of  the  watch,  the 
two  former  appointed  by  the  mayor,  the  latter  by  the  city  com- 
missioners. The  constables  had  their  common-law  powers.  The 
ordinance  of  1789  creating  city  commissioners  and  the  several 
ordinances  supplementary  thereto  placed  the  appointment  and 
regulation  of  the  watch  in  their  hands,  where  it  remained  until 
1833,  subject  to  removal  by  the  mayor  for  misconduct.  The  first 
decided  step  to  be  noticed  in  this  period  is  that  the  city  commis- 
sioners were  to  appoint  a  superintendent  of  the  night  watch  and 
hire  and  employ  a  sufficient  number  of  able-bodied  men  to  light 


282  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

and  watch  the  city  at  fixed  wages,  prescribe  rules  for  their  gov- 
ernment, and  dismiss  them  when  they  thought  proper."  20  This 
system  was  not  satisfactory  and  several  riots  occurring,  one  in 
1833  and  another  in  1844,  resulted  in  the  improvement  of  the 
system,  the  police  force  being  organized  in  1850  somewhat  on 
the  English  model. 

Conditions  were  very  similar  in  New  York.  In  1840  an  at- 
tempt was  made  to  make  the  force  more  efficient.  The  mayor 
with  the  approval  of  the  council  was  to  appoint  a  chief  of  police, 
and  the  captains  and  men  were  to  be  appointed  every  year  in 
each  ward  by  the  aldermen  and  the  assessors.  Naturally  such 
a  system  was  unsatisfactory  and  in  1853  a  change  was  made. 
By  the  law  passed  in  this  year  the  mayor,  recorder  and  city 
judge  were  made  police  commissioners  with  power  to  appoint 
the  members  of  the  force  during  good  behavior.  At  first  great 
difficulty  was  found  in  both  Philadelphia  and  New  York  in 
making  the  men  wear  uniforms.  The  effort  to  do  this  excited 
somewhat  the  same  remarks  that  were  evoked  by  the  attempts  at 
a  more  recent  date  to  put  the  street  cleaning  force  of  New  York 
into  uniform.  The  wearing  of  uniform  was  considered  to  be 
degrading  to  American  manhood,  and  the  attempt  to  enforce  it 
was  resented.  Indeed,  it  is  said  that  in  Philadelphia  the  men  did 
not  generally  wear  their  uniforms  until  1860. 

But  in  both  Philadelphia  and  New  York  a  somewhat  military 
police  force  after  the  English  model  was  ultimately  established 
and  the  example  of  these  two  cities  was  followed  by  others,  so 
that  at  the  present  time  almost  every  city  in  the  United  States 
has  its  uniformed  police  force  organized  in  military  fashion  and 
professional  in  character. 

Continental  Police  Systems.  In  most  of  the  countries  of  Eu- 
rope the  police  of  the  larger  cities  are  organized  in  the  London 
fashion.  They  are  also  either  under  state  management,  or  are 
subject  to  a  strong  state  administrative  control.  Thus  in  France 
the  organization  of  the  local  police  force  in  cities  of  more  than 
forty  thousand  inhabitants  is  fixed  by  decree  of  the  President 
made  after  hearing  the  wishes  of  the  city  council.  The  members 
of  the  force  in  these  cities  are  appointed  by  the  mayor,  whose 

20  Allinson  and  Penrose,  "Philadelphia,"  p.  99. 


POLICE  ADMINISTRATION  283 

action  must  be  approved  by  the  sub-prefect  or  prefect,  who 
alone  has  the  right  to  remove  them  from  office.  The  expense  of 
the  force  is  obligatory  on  the  city.  In  the  smaller  cities  the  city 
authorities  have  control  of  the  force. 

In  Germany  (Prussia)  the  care  of  the  police  is,  in  the  larger 
cities,  placed  in  the  hands  of  state  appointed  authorities  known 
as  police  presidents  or  directors,  and  in  the  smaller  cities  in 
those  of  the  burgomaster.  In  the  larger  cities  police  officers  are 
to  be  chosen  from  non-commissioned  officers  in  the  army  and 
navy  of  not  more  than  thirty-five  years  of  age,  who  have  had  at 
least  seven  years  of  service.21  The  organization  of  the  forces  of 
particular  cities  is  fixed  by  ordinance  of  the  central  govern- 
ment.22 In  the  cities  in  which  the  police  are  in  the  direct  ad- 
ministration 'of  the  central  government,  there  is  usually  one 
patrolman  for  every  fifteen  hundred  inhabitants.  In  the  cities 
which  administer  their  own  police  the  number  of  patrolmen  is 
often  less.23 

Growth  of  State  Control  in  the  United  States.  Under  the  decen- 
tralized system  of  administration  prevailing  in  the  states  of  the 
union  the  work  of  administrative  police  has  been  commonly  per- 
formed by  local  authorities.  In  the  earlier  days  the  preservation 
of  the  peace  was  in  the  hands  of  the  sheriff  and  the  constables. 
Though  the  special  function  of  the  city  police  was  the  enforcing 
of  local  ordinances,  from  the  first  their  most  important  duty  was 
as  agents  of  the  state  in  supplementing  the  work  of  the  sheriff 
in  the  enforcement  of  the  state  laws  for  the  protection  of  life  and 
property. 

This  service  was  at  first  performed  by  an  untrained  force  of 
citizen  watchmen  who  owed  their  selection  either  to  local  election 
or  to  appointment  by  the  mayor  or  city  council,  very  commonly 
as  a  reward  for  political  services.  The  inevitable  result  from  a 
force  so  constituted  was  general  inefficiency.  The  police  officer 
from  the  nature  of  his  duties  is  brought  into  daily  contact  with 
the  vicious  and  law-breaking  classes  and  hence  is  peculiarly  ex- 
posed to  the  temptation  to  grant'immunity  to  individuals  of  those 

21  Grantzow,  "Der  Schutzman,"  pp.  35-36. 

22Leidig,  "Preussisches  Stadtrecht,"  p.  153. 

23  Held,  "Organization  der  Preussischen  Polizeiverwaltung,"  p.  9. 


284  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

classes  to  his  own  personal  advantage.  Thus,  too,  a  corrupt 
political  organization  through  a  subservient  police  may  barter 
protection  in  return  for  votes  and  contributions  to  the  party  war 
chest.  Hence,  in  a  large  number  of  instances  corruption  was 
added  to  inefficiency. 

Whether  or  not  the  local  police  are  corrupt,  a  common  result  of 
the  control  of  the  force  by  local  authority  is  neglect  to  enforce 
state  laws  which  are  deemed  wise  and  desirable  by  the  people  of 
the  state  as  a  whole.  Since  state  legislatures  are  usually  domi- 
nated by  rural  opinion  laws  are  passed  setting  standards  of  con- 
duct not  acquiesced  in  by  a  majority  in  the  city.  The  city  is 
able,  however,  through  its  control  of  the  police  virtually  to  nul- 
lify, by  a  policy  of  non-enforcement,  any  law  which  is  unac- 
ceptable to  a  majority  in  the  city  or  to  the  dominant  political 
organization.  This  has  been  particularly  the  case  with  respect 
to  the  enforcement  of  election  and  liquor  laws. 

To  secure  efficiency,  freedom  from  corruption  and  the  enforce- 
ment of  state  law  the  state  was  finally  led  to  interfere.  In  1857 
in  New  York,  the  metropolitan  police  district  was  created,  and 
the  police  of  New  York  City,  Brooklyn  and  adjacent  territory 
were  consolidated  and  placed  under  the  control  of  a  state-ap- 
pointed police  commission.  Similar  state  commissions  were, 
within  a  decade,  created  for  Baltimore,  St.  Louis,  Chicago,  De- 
troit, and  Cleveland.24  Centrally  appointed  boards  have  since 
been  created  for  Boston  and  other  cities  in  Massachusetts,  Cincin- 
nati, Washington,  Manchester,  N.  H.,  and  Providence,  though  in 
the  case  of  several  of  these  there  has  been  a  return  to  the  system 
of  local  selection.25  There  are  still  a  considerable  number,  not 
only  of  the  larger  cities  but  those  of  moderate  size  as  well, 
whose  police  is  administered  by  state-appointed  boards.  The 
attempt  to  centralize  the  police  forces  of  cities  in  the  United 
States  has  given  rise  to  a  number  of  judicial  decisions  as  to  the 
constitutionality  of  this  action  on  the  part  of  the  state,  either 
under  the  ordinary  American  state  constitution  or  under  a  state 
constitution  which  contains  a  provision  that  local  officers  shall  be 

24  Fairlie,  "Municipal  Administration,"  p.  133. 

25  Hid.,  p.  139. 


POLICE  ADMINISTRATION  285 

locally  selected.  The  rule  supported  by  the  greater  weight  of 
authority  is  in  favor  of  its  constitutionality  under  either  sup*- 
position.  In  New  York,  however,  state-appointed  local  police 
are  unconstitutional,  although  the  state  may  form  a  district  which 
is  substantially  different  from  the  territory  of  a  city  and  provide 
for  a  centrally  appointed  police  force  therefore. 

State  vs.  Local  Police  Control.  The  advantages  which  are 
claimed  to  be  derived  from  state  control  are  those  already  sug- 
gested as  reasons  for  the  adoption  of  the  plan,  viz.,  efficiency, 
freedom  from  corruption  and  the  proper  performance  of  the 
city 's  duty  as  a  state  agent. 

Opposed  to  this  policy  are  the  considerations  favoring  local 
self-government.  The  right  of  the  locality  itself  to  administer 
the  law  within  its  own  boundaries  is  highly  cherished  and  of  long 
standing.  The  presence  of  any  outside  power  exercising  author- 
ity in  any  form  is  highly  distasteful  to  a  community  inheriting 
English  political  traditions,  and  particularly  so  if  its  activity 
takes  a  repressive  form.  The  result  of  such  an  innovation  is  a 
more  or  less  open  sentiment  of  opposition  which  adds  to  the  diffi- 
culty of  law  enforcement.  This  attitude  of  mind  has  been  in- 
tensified by  the  knowledge  of  the  uses  to  which  such  control  has 
been  put  by  corrupt  politicians. 

It  is  difficult  to  obtain  any  satisfactory  testimony  as  to  the 
relative  effect  on  the  preservation  of  the  peace  and  the  mainte- 
nance of  good  order,  of  local  and  of  state  administration  of  the 
police  force  in  the  cities  of  the  United  States.  The  testimony 
would  on  the  whole  seem  to  be  in  favor  of  a  state-appointed 
force,  although  it  cannot  be  said  that  such  a  force  is  any  more 
successful  in  securing  the  enforcement  of  Sunday  closing,  liquor 
or  prohibition  laws  than  a  locally  appointed  police.26  Ex-Mayor 
Quincy,  of  Boston,  is  reported  as  saying,  ' '  I  am  free  to  say  that 
under  the  present  board  police  administration  has  been  better, 
the  laws  have  been  more  strictly  enforced,  good  order  has  been 
more  generally  maintained  than  under  the  old  system.  When 
the  tone  of  the  state  government  is  higher  than  that  of  city 
government  centralized  police  administration  is  the  better  sys- 

28  Sites,  "Centralized  Administration  of  Excise  Laws,"  pp.  55-89. 


286  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

tern.  The  strictly  police  functions  are  more  properly  a  state 
affair  than  most  of  the  other  departments  of  the  city  govern- 
ment."27 

It  is  to  be  remarked,  however,  that  the  United  States  is  the 
only  country  which  has  adopted  the  principle  of  uncontrolled 
local  police  management.  While  in  the  countries  of  Europe  the 
system  which  was  established  about  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth 
century  and  which  was  based  either  upon  central  appointment 
or  a  strong  central  administrative  control,  has  been  permitted  to 
continue  unchanged,  in  the  United  States  continual  changes  are 
being  made  in  the  system.  Sometimes  we  have  local  control  and 
other  times  we  have  state  control.  The  stability  of  the  European 
systems  would  indicate  that  they  are  reasonably  satisfactory; 
the  instability  of  American  conditions  would  also  indicate  that 
the  American  system  is  not  satisfactory,  were  it  not  for  the  fact 
that  the  exigencies  of  partisan  politics  are  responsible  for  so 
many  of  the  changes  in  the  municipal  organization  in  the  United 
States.  But  while  making  due  allowance  for  these  disturbing 
influences  it  can  be  said  that  the  police  forces  of  the  ordinary 
American  city  are  not  satisfactory;  and  the  inference  may  be 
just  as  strong,  perhaps,  that  one  of  the  reasons  why  they  are  not 
satisfactory  is  that  the  control  of  the  police  force  is  too  subject 
to  the  influence  of  the  classes  to  control  whose  actions  the  police 
have  been  formed.  State  control  of  the  police  would  tend  to  re- 
move the  police  force  from  these  influences.  Such,  at  any  rate, 
would  appear  to  have  been  the  experience  of  the  city  of  Boston.28 
This  feeling  is  voiced  by  a  message  of  the  Governor  of  the  State 
of  Massachusetts  in  the  year  1868  in  which  he  vetoed  a  bill 
passed  by  the  legislature  to  abolish  the  state  police.  He  says, 
"A  prosperous  commerce,  progress  in  the  arts  and  the  increase 
of  manufacture,  have  condensed  our  population  in  large  towns 
and  cities,  intensified  vicious  inclinations  and  multiplied  the 
actual  number  of  crimes.  This  is  apparently  the  price  of  public 
prosperity  and  wealth.  Official  records  display  to  the  public 
gaze  an  alarming  increase  of  offences  against  the  person  and 
property,  of  licentiousness  and  gambling  as  well  as  of  insanity 

27  Sites,  "Centralized  Administration  of  Excise  Laws,"  p.  75. 

28  Ibid.,  pp.  50  et  seq. 


POLICE  ADMINISTRATION  287 

and  pauperism,  that  are  directly  traceable  to  lives  of  vice.  .  .  . 
To  deal  with  this  advanced  demoralization  the  municipal  police, 
however  honest  or  well  disposed,  seem  to  a  great  extent  inade- 
quate. ...  It  is  apparent  that  public  decency  and  order  and 
public  justice  require  the  maintenance  of  an  executive  body 
which  shall  not  be  controlled  by  the  public  sentiment  of  any 
locality,  which  shall  be  competent  in  its  spirit,  its  discipline  and 
its  numbers  to  a  reasonable  and  judicious  but  just  and  impartial 
enforcement  of  the  statutes  of  the  Commonwealth. ' ' 29 

Police  Boards  vs.  Commissioners.  An  important  question  con- 
nected with  police  administration  in  the  United  States  has  been 
what  shall  be  the  composition  of  the  authority  which  has  in  its 
hands  the  management  of  the  police?  Shall  it  be  a  board  or 
shall  it  be  a  single  man?  This  question  does  not  seem  ever  to 
have  presented  itself  on  the  continent  of  Europe  where  the  head 
of  the  police  force  is  usually  one  man.  In  the  cities  of  England 
with  the  exception  of  the  metropolis  of  London,  however,  there  is 
a  committee  of  the  council,  called  the  watch  committee,  which  has 
charge  of  the  police.  The  establishment  of  this  committee  was 
probably  not  due  so  much  to  any  belief  that  the  board  system 
was  the  best  system  to  apply  to  police  administration,  but  tc- 
the  fact  that  committee  administration  was  the  only  system  con> 
sistent  with  the  general  principles  of  the  Municipal  Corporation^ 
Act,  which  consolidated  all  municipal  functions  in  the  council. 

In  the  United  States  the  board  system  of  police  management 
was  characteristic  of  the  New  York  law  of  1857  which  was  the 
first  attempt  to  organize  a  modern  police  force  in  this  country. 
The  board  system  was  introduced  here,  however,  probably  not 
because  a  board  was  believed  to  be  particularly  appropriate  to 
police  administration,  but  because  the  board  system  was  just 
about  that  time  believed  to  be  the  proper  form  of  municipal  ad- 
ministration generally.  It  is  true  that  afterwards  the  demands 
of  the  spoils  system  seemed  to  make  a  board  necessary.  For  only 
through  a  bi-partisan  board  could  the  spoils  of  the  police  force  be 
distributed  between  the  two  leading  parties.  This  consideration 
does  not  seem,  it  is  true,  to  have  affected  the  legislature  which 

»  Whitten,  "Public  Administration  in  Massachusetts,"  p.  85. 


288  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

passed  the  act  of  1857,  for  no  trace  of  the  In-partisan  idea  is 
found  in  that  act.  Later  on,  however,  this  idea  had  a  potent  in- 
fluence in  giving  the  board  form  to  the  municipal  police  au- 
thority. 

The  board  form  of  organization  is  commonly  advocated  for 
those  departments  in  the  work  of  which  many  questions  should  be 
settled  only  after  deliberation.  In  the  police  department  action, 
rather  than  deliberation,  is  called  for,  so  that  a  plural  head  is 
uncalled  for  on  that  score.  The  abuses  which  have  resulted  from 
bi-partisan  boards  have  led  in  more  recent  years  to  a  strong  tend- 
ency toward  the  abandonment  of  the  board  idea  and  entrusting 
the  management  of  the  police  to  the  hands  of  one  man.30 

There  has  been  some  discussion  in  this  country  whether  the 
single  head  of  the  police  department,  usually  styled  "commis- 
sioner," shall  be  a  civilian  or  a  professional  man,  who  has  risen 
from  the  ranks  or,  perhaps,  who  has  seen  service  as  an  officer 
in  the  army.  The  professional  has  undoubtedly  more  technical 
knowledge  and  disciplinary  ability.  On  the  other  hand  the  civil- 
ian will  bring  to  the  work  a  better  understanding  of  the  public 
viewpoint  and  a  clearer  appreciation  of  the  place  which  police 
affairs  should  hold  in  the  general  social  economy. 

Below  the  responsible  head  of  the  department,  be  it  board  or 
single  head,  is  the  officer  in  immediate  charge  of  the  force,  the 
chief  of  police.  A  question  which  has  aroused  considerable  de- 
bate is  whether  this  officer  shall  be  taken  from  the  ranks  of  the 
uniformed  force  or  shall  be  selected  from  outside  that  body. 
In  European  countries  again,  this  question  does  not  seem  to  have 
aroused  any  discussion.  This  absence  of  discussion  is  prob- 
ably due  to  the  fact  that  the  term  of  the  person  in  charge  of  the 
force  is  a  long  one,  in  most  cases  practically  for  life.  That  being 
the  case,  the  incumbent  acquires  a  knowledge  of  the  force,  al- 
though he  may  not  have  risen  from  the  ranks,  which  enables  him 
to  manage  the  force  as  well  as  one  who  has  so  risen. 

In  this  country,  while,  owing  to  political  influences,  it  does 
not  always  happen  that  the  chief  has  been  promoted  through  the 
successive  grades  in  the  service,  it  is  usual  that  he  shall  have 
spent  a  sufficiently  long  period  in  the  lower  ranks  to  have  gained 

so  Fairlie,  "Municipal  Administration,"  p.  137. 


POLICE  ADMINISTRATION 

rather  thoroughly  the  professional  point  of  view.  Under  these 
circumstances  a  solution  of  the  whole  problem  of  leadership 
which  has  not  infrequently  been  reached,  and  with  satisfactory 
results,  is  that  the  responsible  head,  plural  or  unitary,  shall  be 
civilian  while  the  officer  in  immediate  charge  of  the  force  shall 
be  a  professional. 

Selection  and  Tenure  of  Police  Officers.  The  fatal  results  to 
both  efficiency  and  honesty  brought  about  by  making  a  police 
force  dependent  upon  political  favor  for  its  selection  and  tenure 
were  made  manifest  as  soon  as  the  attempt  was  made  to  maintain 
a  professional  police.  Upon  the  development  of  the  merit  system 
under  civil  service  rules  the  selection  of  the  police  was  among 
the  first  matters  to  be  regulated.  At  present  the  selection  of 
these  officers  upon  a  merit  basis  after  mental  and  physical  tests 
has  become,  though  by  no  means  general,  a  not  uncommon  prac- 
tice. Even  where  the  city  departments  generally  have  not  been 
brought  under  civil  service  rules,  there  are  instances  where  the 
police  have  been,  by  law  or  custom,  placed  upon  such  a  basis. 

Police  removals  were  universally  in  former  days,  as  is  still 
too  often  the  custom  especially  in  the  smaller  cities,  made  at  the 
behest  of  the  political  spoilsman.  Long  before  the  adoption  of 
civil  service  reform  laws,  however,  attempts  were  made  to  give 
to  police  officers  a  tenure  somewhat  more  secure  than  that  ac- 
corded to  other  officials  of  the  city.  Laws  were  passed  pro- 
hibiting their  arbitrary  removal.  The  usual  method  of  remov- 
ing appointive  city  officials,  when  the  tenure  is  not  merely  at  the 
will  of  the  appointing  officer,  is  by  the  superior  officer  upon 
charges  made  and  after  public  hearing.  In  certain  states,  as  for 
example  in  New  York,  the  courts,  in  the  case  of  policemen,  have 
the  power  to  review  and  quash  the  determinations  of  superior 
administrative  officers  in  cases  of  removal.  It  is  very  certain 
that  the  exercise  of  this  power  has  had  a  bad  effect  on  the  char- 
acter of  the  police  force,  and  in  this  connection  it  is  interesting  to 
note  that  no  country  outside  of  the  United  States  has  accorded  to 
its  police  officers  any  such  privileged  position. 

Usually  their  tenure  is  the  same  as  other  officers,  which  is  at 
the  will  of  the  appointing  officer.  In  Germany  official  tenure  is 
peculiar.  Arbitrary  removal  is  nowhere  recognized,  but  occurs 


290  MUNICIPAL  'GOVERNMENT 

only  after  a  conviction  by  a  quasi  judicial  tribunal  known  as  a 
disciplinary  tribunal.  These  disciplinary  tribunals  are,  how- 
ever, not  a  part  of  the  regular  judicial  system  and  in  their  de- 
cisions pay  more  regard  to  the  needs  of  the  service  and  less  to  the 
rights  of  individuals  than  do  the  ordinary  courts. 

The  disciplinary  power  over  police  officers  embraces  in  ad- 
dition to  the  power  of  removal  the  right  to  impose  fines,  degra- 
dation of  rank,  suspension,  and  in  Germany  also  arrest.  Such 
punishments  are  usually  inflicted  by  the  higher  police  officers 
and  are  to  be  found  in  the  most  highly  developed  police  forces 
of  the  United  States. 

Defects  of  American  Police.  Police  forces  are,  notwithstanding 
the  great  services  they  render,  not  usually  popular.  The  en- 
croachments on  the  field  of  what  are  regarded  as  individual 
rights  which  they  necessarily  make  cause  frequent  complaints  to 
be  made  as  regards  both  the  efficiency  and  the  honesty  of  the 
police.  Probably  in  no  country  are  the  complaints  of  this  sort 
more  numerous  than  in  the  United  States. 

The  main  reasons  for  dissatisfaction  with  the  police  force  in 
the  average  large  city  of  the  United  States  are  not  that  it  can- 
not be  held  responsible,  nor  that  it  favors  the  members  of  one 
political  party  over  those  of  another.  The  most  common  com- 
plaint against  the  city  police  is  that,  either  as  a  body  or  through 
its  individual  members,  it  sells  the  right  to  break  the  law. 
Probably,  in  this  respect,  the  police  force  of  American  cities  is 
not  peculiar.  The  same  complaint  is  frequently  heard  of  other 
city  departments,  and  of  the  departments  of  both  the  state  and 
national  governments,  and  it  is  not  by  any  means  unheard  with 
regard  to  the  police  of  other  governments.  But  the  persist- 
ence and  the  universality  of  the  complaint  in  the  cities  of  the 
United  States  cannot  fail  to  produce  the  impression  that  the 
habit  is  more  wide-spread  and  more  deep-seated  in  the  case  of 
the  American  municipal  police  than  it  is  elsewhere.  We  are 
naturally  inclined  to  ask  whether  there  is  anything  peculiar 
in  the  organization  of  the  American  city  police,  or  in  the  con- 
ditions of  American  life,  which  should  have  for  its  effect  a 
greater  disposition  on  the  part  of  the  police  to  sell  their  favor 
in  this  country  than  in  others. 


POLICE  ADMINISTRATION  291 

So  far  as  concerns  the  police  of  Great  Britain  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  city  police  force  is  much  the  same  as  here.  The 
force,  as  a  whole,  is  called  upon  not  merely  to  suppress  dis- 
order and  open  violations  of  the  law,  but  also  to  ferret  out  secret 
violations  of  the  laws  which  have  been  passed  with  the  partic- 
ular idea  in  view  of  improving  the  public  morals.  In  the  case 
of  the  continental  police  forces  the  conditions  are  somewhat 
different.  The  enforcement  of  most  of  such  laws  is  intrusted  to  a 
special  department  of  the  police  force  known  as  the  morals  police, 
and  the  major  part  of  the  force  is  removed  to  a  degree,  at  any 
rate,  from  the  temptation  to  sell  its  favor. 

In  one  respect,  however,  the  conditions  of  American  life  differ 
very  much  from  those  of  European  life,  and  the  difference  is 
perhaps  in  large  part  accountable  for  the  greater  use  made  by 
the  police  of  American  cities  of  their  powers  in  their  own  pecul- 
iar interest.  In  the  United  States  the  people  have  never  so 
clearly  as  in  Europe,  and  particularly  in  continental  Europe, 
distinguished  between  vice  and  crime.  It  is  too  commonly  be- 
lieved in  this  country  that  once  we  have  determined  that  an 
action  is  vicious,  it  necessarily  follows  that  such  action  should 
be  criminally  punished.  Whether  an  action  is  believed  to  be 
vicious  or  not  depends,  of  course,  upon  a  variety  of  things. 
But  whatever  the  criterion  of  morality  or  immorality  may  be, 
the  public  belief  in  its  immoral  character  is  the  result  of  the 
standards,  somewhat  subjective  in  character,  of  the  majority 
of  individual  men.  Now,  whether  an  act  shall  be  a  crime  or 
not  should  be  dependent  simply  upon  the  question,  Is  it  socially 
expedient  to  attempt  to  punish  such  act  criminally?  The  mor- 
ality of  the  act  has  little,  if  anything,  to  do  with  the  matter. 
An  action  may,  from  the  viewpoint  of  subjective  individual 
morality,  be  absolutely  innocent,  and  yet  it  may  properly  be 
a  crime.  Thus  from  the  individualistic  moral  point  of  view  it  is 
an  innocent  action  for  a  man  to  drive  on  either  side  of  a  city 
street.  Yet  the  government  may  properly  determine  quite  arbi- 
trarily that  it  shall  be  a  crime  to  drive  on  either  the  left  or  the 
right  side  of  the  street.  Again,  an  action  may  be  from  the 
viewpoint  of  individualistic  morality  most  vicious  in  character. 
But  its  viciousness  may  not  result  in  making  it  a  crime.  Mere 


292  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

sensual  indulgence  in  any  form  is  vicious.  But  the  mere  fact  of 
its  viciousness  is  not  sufficient  to  justify  the  government  in  mak- 
ing it  criminal. 

The  only  justification  for  punishing  an  act  criminally  is  that 
the  welfare  of  society  requires  that  it  should  be  so  punished. 
Now  it  may  well  be  that  the  difficulty  of  punishing  some  particu- 
lar act  may  be  so  great,  and  the  procedure  necessary  to  secure 
its  punishment  may  be  so  arbitrary,  that  the  social  welfare  is  less 
subserved  by  the  attempt  to  punish  it  than  it  is  by  leaving  it 
alone,  no  matter  how  vicious  it  may  be.  By  letting  it  alone  the 
people  in  their  governmental  organization  do  not  countenance  it. 
They  simply  declare  it  is  inexpedient  to  attempt  to  punish  it 
criminally.  Take,  for  example,  the  case  of  gambling.  The  state 
may  determine  that  it  is  inexpedient  to  make  mere  gambling  an 
offense.  This  is  the  general  rule  in  the  United  States  as  to 
private  gambling.  No  one  commits  a  crime  in  gambling.  The 
state  does,  however,  say  that  it  will  not  permit  its  power  to  be 
exercised  to  recover  a  gambling  debt.  The  state  often  says  also 
that  keeping  a  public  gambling  table  is  a  crime.  It  does  so 
because  it  believes,  or  the  majority  of  the  people  believe,  that 
keeping  such  a  gambling  table  has  such  bad  effects  on  society 
that  it  may  properly  be  made  a  crime.  But  suppose,  after 
numerous  and  persistent  efforts  to  suppress  the  keeping  of  public 
gambling  tables  the  state  came  to  the  conclusion  that  these  at- 
tempts led,  through  the  corruption  of  the  police  force  and  the 
arbitrary  invasion  of  the  right  of  personal  liberty,  to  a  greater 
social  harm  than  the  keeping  of  gambling  tables  in  such  a  way 
that  no  scandal  or  disorder  was  caused  thereby — suppose,  then, 
that  it  ceased  to  attempt  to  punish  criminally  the  mere  keeping 
of  such  a  table,  it  could  not  fairly  be  said  that  it  countenanced 
gambling. 

Now,  one  of  the  results  of  attempting  to  determine  the  crim- 
inality of  an  act  by  its  viciousness  has  been  to  force  upon  the 
police  of  cities  in  the  United  States  work  which,  as  has  been  al- 
ready suggested,  under  the  standards  of  morality  prevailing  in 
the  cities,  it  is  practically  impossible  for  them  to  perform.  Little, 
if  any,  good  is  therefore  actually  accomplished,  even  from  the 
point  of  view  of  those  who  believe  that  an  act  should  be  crimi- 


POLICE  ADMINISTRATION  293 

nally  punished  because  it  is  vicious.  All  that  is  accomplished  is 
the  satisfaction  of  the  conscience  of  those  persons,  of  whom  there 
are  unfortunately  too  many,  who  seem  to  think  that  if  they  have 
made  a  sort  of  profession  of  faith  by  denominating  as  criminal  in 
some  statute,  an  act  which  is  commonly  regarded  as  vicious,  they 
have  satisfied  the  demands  made  upon  them,  by  the  obligation  to 
live  a  virtuous  life.  The  moral  satisfaction  of  such  persons  has, 
however,  been  secured  at  the  expense  of  very  evil  effects  in  other 
directions. 

That  the  evil  effects  of  such  a  method  of  action  are  great 
cannot  for  a  moment  be  denied.  And  these  evil  effects  are 
particularly  marked  in  the  case  of  the  police  forces  in  Ameri- 
can cities.  Public  opinion  seems  to  justify  the  passage  of 
statutes  upon  the  enforcement  of  which  that  same  public  opin- 
ion does  not  insist.  The  result  is  a  temptation  for  the  police 
which  human  nature  is  hardly  strong  enough  to  resist.  The 
police  force  becomes  a  means  by  which  the  whole  city  govern- 
ment is  corrupted.  There  has  never  been  invented  so  success- 
ful a  "get-rich-quick"  institution  as  is  to  be  found  in  the  con- 
trol of  the  police  force  of  a  large  American  city.  Here  the 
conditions  are  more  favorable  than  elsewhere  to  the  development 
of  police  corruption,  because  the  standard  of  city  morality  which 
has  the  greatest  influence  on  the  police  force,  which  has  to  en- 
force the  law,  is  not  the  same  as  that  of  the  people  of  the  state 
as  a  whole  which  puts  the  law  on  the  statute  book.  What  the 
state  regards  as  immoral  the  city  regards  as  innocent.  What 
wonder  then  if  the  city  winks  at  the  selling  by  the  police  of  the 
right  to  disobey  the  law  which  the  city  regards  as  unjustifiable  ? 

These  conditions  of  American  life  must  be  borne  in  mind 
when  we  consider  the  police  problem  of  the  modern  large  Ameri- 
can city.  Until  we  alter  somewhat  our  standards  of  determin- 
ing what  are  crimes  we  can  hardly  hope  for  a  different  kind  of 
police  force.  Changes  of  its  organization  are  mere  scratches 
on  its  surface  and  will  have  little  if  any  effect  on  its  real  char- 
acter. As  to  what  are  the  concrete  instances  in  which  changes 
should  be  made  in  the  criminal  law,  it  is,  of  course,  exceedingly 
difficult  to  say.  For  we  must  bear  in  mind  that  there  have  been 
many  instances  where  the  criminal  law  has  anticipated,  in  large 


294  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

measure,  the  popular  standards  of  morality.  Civilization 
owes  much  to  criminal  laws  whose  enforcement  has  been  very 
imperfect.  At  the  same  time  no  criminal  law  should  be  placed 
upon  the  statute  book  until  the  question  of  the  possibility  of  its 
enforcement,  and  the  effects  of  its  attempted  enforcement  on 
the  social  well-being,  have  been  carefully  considered.  No  crimi- 
nal law  should  be  kept  permanently  on  the  statute  book,  no 
matter  what  may  be  the  immorality  of  the  act  which  it  punishes, 
where  the  effects  on  the  social  well-being  of  the  attempt  to  en- 
force it  are  worse  than  those  of  letting  the  act  go  unpunished.  It 
always  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  state  is  not  the  only 
means  by  which  civilization  is  advanced.  Much  may  profitably 
be  left  to  the  church  and  to  other  organizations  whose  work  is 
moral  instruction  and  uplifting,  but  to  which  is  denied  the  sover- 
eign right  of  punishment. 

Police  Licenses.  Sometimes  the  state  attempts  to  regulate 
rather  than  suppress  some  occupation  or  act  deemed  dangerous 
to  the  public  welfare.  This  is  often  the  case  with  the  liquor 
traffic.  Where  such  a  policy  is  adopted  a  license  is  granted 
without  which  carrying  on  the  occupation  is  criminally  pun- 
ished. Usually  the  issue  of  such  licenses  is  a  function  of  the 
police  authorities.  In  some  of  the  cities  of  the  United  States 
special  authorities  called  licensing  or  excise  commissions  are 
organized  for  this  purpose.  The  disintegration  of  the  police 
power  in  English  and  particularly  American  cities  to  which 
attention  has  been  called  has  resulted  also  in  the  grant  of  the 
power  to  issue  other  licenses  to  authorities  not  connected  with 
the  police.  Thus  in  the  cities  of  the  United  States  the  licensing 
of  the  sale  of  explosives  and  fireworks  is  a  function  of  the  fire  de- 
partment, that  of  peddlers  and  push  carts,  of  the  mayor  and  so 
on.  In  continental  European  cities  usually  all  licenses  are  issued 
by  the  local  police  authority. 

Public  Health  and  Safety.  The  administrative  police  of  public 
health  and  safety  differs  somewhat  from  that  of  public  peace 
and  order.  As  a  general  thing  the  peace  is  preserved  and 
public  order  is  maintained  through  repressive  rather  than  pre- 
ventive action.  Most  of  the  work  of  the  police  authorities 
charged  with  the  preservation  of  the  peace  consists  in  the  arrest 


POLICE  ADMINISTRATION  295 

of  violators  of  the  laws  or  ordinances  which  the  police  authority 
is  to  enforce.  It  is  true,  of  course,  that  in  many  cases  all  that 
the  authorities  having  charge  of  the  administrative  police  of 
public  health  and  safety  will  have  to  do  in  order  to  so  protect 
the  public  health  and  safety  is  to  arrest  and  bring  to  punish- 
ment violators  of  public  health  and  public  safety  laws  and  ordi- 
nances. It  is  impossible,  however,  under  the  complex  condi- 
tions which  exist  in  modern  municipalities  to  put  all  such  police 
regulations  into  the  form  of  commands  to  individuals  to  do 
or  not  to  do  given  things  the  violation  of  which  is  punishable  as  a 
penal  offense.  In  a  large  number  of  cases  it  is  found  desirable  to 
provide  only  that  when  a  certain  state  of  facts  exists  the  law 
shall  apply.  Thus  the  legislature  may  pass  a  law  declaring  that 
no  condition  which  is  a  menace  to  public  health  shall  be  tolerated. 
Before  the  law  can  be  applied  it  must  be  determined  in  each  case 
whether  in  that  instance  a  menace  exists.  The  decisions  of  such 
questions  may,  of  course,  be  entrusted  to  judicial  authorities,  but 
such  authorities  are  not  fitted  for  the  decision  of  such  questions 
because  (1)  they  are  mainly  engaged  in  the  decision  of  contro- 
versies having  to  do  with  the  interpretation  of  the  private  or 
criminal  law;  (2)  the  determination  of  fact  in  such  cases  is 
better  arrived  at  through  administrative  investigation  than  by 
evidence  secured  in  a  trial  court,  and  (3)  the  procedure  before 
the  courts  is  so  slow  that  the  public  health  and  safety  might  in 
many  cases  be  endangered  if  resort  to  them  were  necessary  before 
the  administrative  authorities  could  take  action.  Consequently 
it  has  been  found  desirable  the  world  over  to  entrust  the  deter- 
mination of  the  facts  and  the  consequent  application  of  the  law 
in  large  numbers  of  cases,  including  matters  of  public  health,  to 
the  discretion  of  administrative  authorities  rather  than  to  judi- 
cial officers.  It  was  in  connection  with  public  health  matters 
that  this  conclusion  was  first  reached  and  it  is  in  this  field  that 
the  widest  and  most  summary  powers  have  been  given  to  ad- 
ministrative authorities. 

Health  and  Safety  Administration  in  England.  The  English 
methods  of  securing  the  public  health  and  safety,  like  most  of 
the  methods  of  English  administrative  law,  are  based  upon  de- 
tailed legislation.  By  the  common  law  the  only  means  of  pro- 


296  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

tecting  the  public  health  was  to  be  found  in  the  law  of  nuisances. 
By  the  common  law  a  public  or  common  nuisance  was  indictable. 
Such  a  method  of  preserving  the  public  health  and  safety  was  in- 
effective and  when  urban  communities  began  to  grow,  as  they  did 
in  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century,  resort  had  to  be  made 
to  other  methods.  The  first  important  change  which  was  made 
in  the  law  was  made  by  the  Nuisances  Removal  and  Diseases  Pre- 
vention Acts  of  about  1850,  later  consolidated  in  18  and  19 
Victoria,  chapter  121.  By  these  acts  Parliament  enumerated  a 
long  list  of  acts  which  were  made  nuisances.  On  the  complaint 
that  the  law  was  not  being  obeyed,  justices  of  the  peace  were 
authorized  to  issue  orders  for  the  removal  of  the  nuisances, 
which  must  be  obeyed  under  a  penalty  for  disobedience  by  the 
persons  maintaining  them. 

This  act  was  later  amended  and  with  its  amendments  was  in- 
corporated into  the  Consolidated  Public  Health  Act  of  1875, 
which  is,  in  addition  to  being  what  we  would  call  a  public  health 
act,  also  a  local  government  act.  By  it  the  entire  country  is 
divided  into  districts  which  are  either  urban  or  rural.  Every 
borough,  roughly  speaking,  is  an  urban  district  authority.  The 
law  provides  that  every  urban  district  shall  have  a  medical 
officer  of  health,  an  inspector  of  nuisances  and  a  surveyor,  who 
are  appointed,  removed  and  controlled  by  the  borough  council, 
and  who  are  to  execute  the  health  laws.  These,  it  will  be  re- 
membered, are  much  wider  in  their  extent  than  what  we  would 
call  health  laws,  embracing  not  merely  health  but  building  and 
public  safety  regulations. 

The  borough  council,  as  borough  council,  has  the  power  of 
police  ordinance  in  the  narrow  sense  of  the  word,  that  is,  the 
power  to  issue  ordinances  for  the  good  order  and  convenience 
of  the  borough.  These  ordinances  may  be  disapproved  by  the 
Privy  Council.  As  urban  district  authority  the  borough  council 
has  wide  powers  of  ordinance  relative  to  the  public  health 
and  safety,  that  is  relative  to  diseases  prevention,  buildings,  re- 
moval of  rubbish,  prevention  and  diminution  of  offensive  trades, 
markets,  and  so  on.31  Such  ordinances  must  be  approved  by  the 
Local  Government  Board  at  London.32  Besides  issuing  ordi- 

»i  Husband,  "Sanitary  Law,"  p.  91. 


POLICE  ADMINISTRATION  297 

nances  the  urban  district  authorities  and  their  medical  health 
officer  and  inspector  of  nuisances  may  likewise  issue  orders  of 
individual  application.  Thus  an  urban  district  authority  may 
order  the  owner  or  occupier  of  a  dwelling  to  whitewash  or 
cleanse  his  house  if  the  necessity  for  so  doing  is  certified  by  the 
medical  officer  of  health,33  may  order  an  owner  of  a  house  to 
bring  water  into  his  house  from  the  public  supply ; 3<  may,  in 
case  of  a  nuisance,  order  the  person  responsible  for  it  to  abate 
it,  and  in  case  of  his  neglect  to  act  may  make  a  complaint  be- 
fore the  justice  of  the  peace,  who,  if  satisfied  that  the  nuisance 
exists,  may  order  its  removal,35  and  may  remove  to  a  proper  hos- 
pital any  one  suffering  from  a  dangerous  infectious  disease,  who 
is  without  proper  lodging  or  is  lodged  in  a  room  occupied  by 
more  than  one  family,  or  in  a  common  lodging  house.36  The 
medical  officer  of  health  and  the  inspector  of  nuisances  have 
each  the  power  to  inspect,  condemn  and  seize  any  food  offered 
for  sale  which  appears  to  be  diseased  or  unfit  for  human 
food.37 

Central  Control  in  England.  The  powers  possessed  by  the 
municipal,  sanitary  and  public  safety  police  authority  are  exer- 
cised under  a  central  administrative  control  which  is  framed 
with  the  idea  both  of  increasing  local  efficiency  and  of  protect- 
ing private  rights,  though  the  former  purpose  is  more  em- 
phasized than  the  latter.  The  central  authority,  that  is  the 
Local  Government  Board  at  London,  "may  order  a  local  author- 
ity to  remove  or  contract  for  the  removal  of  house  refuse  from 
the  premises,  the  cleansing  of  earth  closets,  ash  pits,  cesspools 
and  the  cleansing  and  watering  of  streets.38  But  the  largest 
powers  in  this  direction  are  in  connection  with  epidemic,  en- 
demic and  contagious  diseases.  Here  it  is  almost  supreme. 
It  may  make,  alter  or  repeal  such  regulations  as  seem  proper 
concerning  interment  of  the  dead,  house  to  house  visitation, 

32  Husband,  "Sanitary  Law,"  p.  94. 

as  Ibid.,  p.  34. 

a*  Ibid.,  p.  44. 

35  Ibid.,  p.  59. 

s«  Ibid.,  p.  68. 

si  Odgers  and  Naldrett,  "Local  Government,"  p.  130. 

38  38  and  39  Vic.,  Chap.  55,  §§  14  and  80-90. 


298  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

medical  aid,  disinfection,  cleansing,  ventilation,  etc.,  and  may 
even  determine  what  authorities  shall  enforce  these  regula- 
tions."39 

The  Local  Government  Board  may  further  fix  the  qualifica- 
tions, methods  of  appointment,  duties,  salaries  and  tenure  of 
office  of  the  medical  officer  of  health  and  the  inspector  of 
nuisances,  and  has  the  right  of  approval  of  the  appointment  of  all 
borough  analysts  "whose  duties  are  to  enforce  the  law  prohibit- 
ing the  adulteration  of  food  and  drugs  and  the  selling  of  food 
and  drugs  that  -are  adulterated  or  are  not  of  the  nature,  sub- 
stance and  quality  demanded. "  *°  ' '  The  power  of  the  Board 
over  defaulting  authorities  is  far-reaching  and  effective.  It  is 
necessary  that  a  complaint  be  filed  before  an  inquiry  can  be 
held,  but  as  any  one  can  make  complaint  and  as  it  has  been 
found  that  if  an  -authority  is  negligent  there  will  be  at  least  one 
person  willing  and  ready  to  so  report  this  provision  does  not 
restrain  the  activity  of  the  Board.  There  are  quite  a  number 
of  cases  where  complaint  has  been  made  but  the  Board  has  found 
no  default.  In  the  interpretation  of  the  law  by  the  courts,  no 
encroachment  has  been  made  upon  the  powers  of  the  Board,  and 
although  the  cases  are  few,  those  that  exist  are  plain  and  de- 
cide that  in  questions  of  expediency  the  judiciary  will  not  in- 
terfere. Although  stringent  methods  are  provided  in  case  the 
local  authority  refuses  to  act  within  the  allotted  time,  it  is 
seldom  that  it  is  necessary  to'  go  this  far. "  41  "  Another  method 
of  central  control  of  very  limited  application  is  to  be  found  in 
the  power  of  withholding  the  subsidy  paid  towards  the  support 
of  medical  officers  and  inspectors  of  nuisances  if  returns  and 
reports  are  not  sent  to  the  Local  Government  Board  as  required. 
The  retention  of  the  subsidy  is  not  in  the  nature  of  a  fine  im- 
posed upon  the  officer,  for  the  expense  falls  upon  the  locality 
which  he  represents  rather  than  the  officer  himself.  It  eon- 
tributes  something,  however,  towards  preventing  the  selection 
of  incompetent  officers. ' '  *2 

3»  Maltbie,  "English  Local  Government  of  Today,"  p.  89. 

40  Ibid.,  pp.  100  and  103. 

41  Ibid.,  p.  105. 
« Ibid.,  p.  107. 


POLICE  ADMINISTRATION  299 

Health  and  Safety  Administration  in  the  United  States.  In 
the  United  States  also  the  police  of  public  health  and  safety 
starts  from  the  idea  of  nuisance.  It  is  further  based  on  the 
principle  that  there  is  to  be  a  legislative  determination  in  great 
detail  as  to  what  are  nuisances.  There  is  not  in  this  country 
any  elaborate  statute  on  the  subject,  and  in  those  states  where 
special  legislation  is  permitted  by  the  constitution  much  of  the 
legislation  is  contained  in  statutes  which  affect  only  one  city. 
New  York  City  was  one  of  the  first  cities  in  this  country  in 
which  the  matter  of  public  health  was  taken  in  hand.  This 
was  done  about  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century  and  here 
what  was  accomplished  was  largely  through  regulations  inserted 
in  the  charter  of  the  city. 

In  addition  to  the  special  acts  passed  by  the  legislature  the 
matter  is  also  regulated  by  municipal  ordinances,  which  are 
passed  either  by  the  city  council,  or  by  some  of  the  executive  de- 
partments of  the  city,  as  the  health  department.  As  a  general 
thing  in  the  United  States  there  is  no  necessity  that  the  ordi- 
nances passed  by  the  municipal  authorities  shall  receive  the  ap- 
proval of  any  superior  administrative  authority,  nor  has  any 
superior  authority  the  right  to  annul  them.  The  courts,  how- 
ever, have  the  right  to  declare  illegal  all  ordinances  which  vio- 
late a  law,  or  in  case  of  ordinances  passed  as  a  result  of  the  ex- 
ercise of  the  general  ordinance  power,  all  ordinances  which  are 
unreasonable. 

Departments  Included.  In  American  cities  administrative 
police  powers  of  public  health  and  safety  are  usually  distributed 
among  several  departments.  For  example,  in  New  York  City 
there  are  a  health  department,  a  fire  department,  a  tenement 
house  department  and  five  building  departments,  one  for  each 
of  the  five  boroughs  into  which  the  city  is  divided.  In  perhaps 
a  majority  of  the  larger  cities  will  be  found  a  health  depart- 
ment, a  fire  department  and  a  building  department.  The  func- 
tion which  may  be  called  sanitation,  and  which  includes  drain- 
age, street  cleaning  and  garbage  collection,  is  frequently  scat- 
tered among  different  agencies,  or  it  may  be  united  with  the 
health  department  or  with  the  department  of  public  works.  Oc- 
casionally the  whole  matter  of  police  in  the  broadest  sense  of 


300  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

the  term  is  put  into  the  hands  of  a  single  official  called  the 
director  of  public  safety. 

In  many  cases,  owing  to  the  decentralized  character  of  Ameri- 
can city  administration,  the  departments  in  question  are  not 
only  independent  of  each  other  but  also  of  the  mayor.  In  some 
instances  the  mayor  may,  with  the  consent  of  the  council,  apr 
point  the  heads  of  these  departments  and  in  an  increasing 
number  of  cities  he  has  complete  control  of  these  as  he  has  of 
all  the  departments,  through  the  power  of  appointment  and 
removal.  At  the  head  of  each  department  is  found  a  single 
commissioner,  or  perhaps  more  often,  a  board.  The  department 
of  health,  especially,  is  likely  to  be  placed  under  a  board  as  a 
more  suitable  form  of  organization  because  of  the  large  legis- 
lative and  quasi- judicial  powers  entrusted  to  the  department. 

The  executive  forces  to  which  is  entrusted  the  enforcement  of 
the  laws  relative  to  public  health  and  safety,  in  the  larger 
cities  of  the  United  States,  have  been,  like  the  police  force  for 
the  preservation  of  the  peace  and  the  maintenance  of  public 
order,  placed  upon  a  professional  basis.  These  forces  are  some- 
times organized  in  military  fashion  and  put  in  uniform.  This 
is  almost  universally  true  of  the  fire-fighting  force  except  in 
the  smallest  cities,  and,  in  some  of  the  largest  cities  is  likewise 
true  of  the  sanitary  and  street-cleaning  forces.  In  the  smaller 
cities  the  work  of  garbage  removal  and  street-cleaning  is  more 
commonly  done  by  contract.43 

The  work  of  the  health  department,  taken  in  its  more  limited 
sense,  includes  the  compilation  of  health  and  vital  statistics, 
quarantine  and  vaccination  regulation,  regulation  of  offensive 
trades,  food  inspection  and  a  general  supervision  in  the  interests 
of  health  of  other  city  activities.  The  work  of  sanitation  which, 
as  has  been  observed,  is  frequently  assigned  to  the  health  de- 
partment, is  preventive  in  character  and  includes  the  removal 
of  garbage,  cleaning  the  streets,  the  control  of  smoke  and  gen- 
eral sanitary  inspection.  The  building  department  is,  in  one 
of  its  aspects,  closely  related  to  the  fire  department,  and  in  an- 
other to  that  of  health  and  sanitation.  To  secure  protection 

*sThe  same  tendency  is  noticeable  in  the  large  cities  of  Europe  in  the 
case  of  the  forces  for  the  extinguishment  of  fires. 


POLICE  ADMINISTRATION  301 

from  fire,  stability  of  construction  and  sanitary  surroundings 
in  homes  and  places  of  employment  are  the  aims  of  building 
inspection.  These  are  secured  through  a  system  of  inspection 
of  building  materials,  wiring  and  plumbing  installations,  pub- 
lic buildings  and  tenement  houses  and  the  approval  of  plans 
and  specifications  of  buildings. 

The  fire  department  has  two  aims,  fire  prevention  and  fire 
fighting.  Our  fire  departments  were  originally  organized  for 
fire  fighting  and  expenditures  for  this  purpose  in  American 
cities  far  exceed  those  in  the  cities  of  other  countries.  In 
foreign  countries  the  greatest  efforts  are  directed  toward  fire 
prevention.  The  losses  by  fire  in  the  United  States  and  Canada 
are  more  than  three  times  as  great  as  in  any  country  of  western 
Europe.  This  state  of  affairs  is  due  to  the  inferior  character 
of  building  construction  and  the  less  efficient  system  of  fire 
prevention  in  America.  The  elements  of  hazard  which  tend  to 
increase  the  fire  risks  are  physical,  occupational  and  personal. 
Fire  prevention  involves  the  reduction  of  each  of  these  by  more 
stringent  building  regulations,  the  requirement  of  special  pro- 
tection where  special  hazards  arise  from  the  peculiar  uses  made 
of  the  premises  and  the  effort  to  control  personal  negligence 
through  a  campaign  of  education.  The  work  of  prevention  has 
been  placed  upon  the  fire  department  to  be  carried  on  through 
a  system  of  inspection. 

Central  Control  in  the  United  States.  Municipal  police  powers 
relating  to  public  health  and  safety  have  not  been  subjected 
to  a  very  extensive  central  control  as  yet  in  the  United  States, 
though  probably  to  a  greater  degree  than  in  the  case  of  other 
city  activities.  There  is  today  a  growing  tendency  in  that  di- 
rection. State  departments  of  health  have  acquired  authority 
to  require  reports  from  local  boards,  to  approve  or  overrule 
acts  of  local  authorities,  to  assume  local  health  administration 
when  local  authorities  fail  to  act  and,  less  frequently,  to  appoint 
or  remove  local  health  officers  and  to  maintain  a  force  of  full- 
time  health  inspectors  to  supervise  the  work  of  local  authorities. 
Several  of  the  states  have  entered  the  field  of  fire  prevention 
through  the  enactment  of  elaborate  building  codes  and  the  crea- 
tion of  a  fire  marshal's  department.  The  functions  of  this 


302  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

department  include  the  inspection  of  fire  hazards,  the  investi- 
gation of  the  causes  of  fires  and  public  education  in  fire  preven- 
tion. Local  fire  and  police  departments  are  made  the  agents 
of  the  fire  marshal  to  cooperate  with  the  representatives  of 
the  central  office. 

Under  these  conditions  -a  considerable  degree  of  positive  cen- 
tral control  over  local  authorities  might  be  expected  and  espe- 
cially over  local  boards  of  health.  Two  causes  tend  to  limit 
the  actual  control  exerted.  The  legislative  appropriation  for 
the  expenses  of  the  state  boards  limit  their  activities  in  this 
as  in  other  directions;  but  equally  potent  is  the  fact  that  the 
policy  of  state  boards  of  health  has  been  to  use  their  mandatory 
and  compulsory  powers  as  little  as  possible.  They  have  usually 
acted  on  the  principle  of  working  through  the  local  organiza- 
tions established  by  law,  preserving  their  autonomy  and  inde- 
pendence, settling  their  disputes,  supplementing  their  deficiencies 
and  endeavoring  to  elevate  the  plane  of  their  usefulness.  Thus 
the  whole  tendency  has  been  to  leave  the  actual  sanitary  admin- 
istration in  the  hands  of  the  local  authorities  and  to  make  the 
central  board  an  educational  bureau  rather  than  an  office  for 
issuing  mandatory  orders,  except  in  emergencies,  to  the  local 
boards. 

Sanitary  Police  Powers.  What  exactly  is  the  power  possessed 
by  the  municipal  authorities  in  the  United  States  having  charge 
of  the  administrative  police  of  public  health  and  safety  is  of 
course  determined  by  the  laws  regulating  their  powers  as  well 
as  by  the  common  law  of  nuisances  as  it  has  been  developed 
by  the  decisions  of  the  American  courts.  It  may,  however, 
be  said  that  this  power  is  a  very  broad  one,  notwithstanding 
the  existence  of  constitutional  provisions  protecting  private 
rights.  The  courts  have  decided  that  the  constitutional  pro- 
visions protecting  private  rights  were  adopted  in  view  of  the 
police  power  and  hence  this  power  is  not  limited  by  them.  Their 
existence  only  limits  the  power  of  the  legislature  or  its  dele- 
gates to  add  by  legislation  to  the  list  of  nuisances.  That  is, 
the  courts  hold  that  the  legislature  cannot  itself  nor  by  its  dele- 
gate declare  to  be  a  nuisance  what  is  clearly  not  a  nuisance. 
This  means  that  nuisances  not  common  law  nuisances  are  sub- 


POLICE  ADMINISTRATION  303 

ject  finally  to  judicial  definition;  if  the  judicial  definition  coin- 
cides with  the  legislative  definition  anything  may  be  made  a 
nuisance. 

Once  it  is  determined  that  a  particular  thing  is  legally  a  nui- 
sance the  powers  of  the  police  authorities  to  suppress  such  a 
nuisance  are  of  the  widest  character.  This  is  particularly  true 
as  to  the  determination  of  the  existence  of  facts  which  justify 
police  intervention.  For  a  long  time  our  law  was  the  same  as 
that  of  England,  namely,  that  a  nuisance  could  be  abated  prac- 
tically only  by  indictment  or  other  criminal  proceeding.  As 
this  involved  the  action  of  a  jury  it  was  found  practically  im- 
possible under  such  a  system  to  safeguard  the  public  health 
in  the  larger  cities.  Of  course  it  was  true  that  the  rule  of  the 
common  law  that  anyone  might  abate  a  nuisance  was  adopted 
in  our  law,  but  public  officers  could  act  only  at  the  risk  of  being 
held  responsible  for  damages  in  any  suit  brought  against  them 
by  individuals  injured  by  their  action,  in  case  the  thing  abated 
was  decided  by  the  courts  on  the  suit  not  to  be  a  nuisance.  The 
courts  could,  furthermore,  on  such  suit  practically  revise  the 
determination  of  the  police  officers  as  to  the  existence  of  the  con- 
ditions which  would  justify  their  interference. 

Mr.  Dorman  B.  Eaton,  to  whom  the  administrative  law  of 
New  York  owes  so  much,  set  to  work  about  the  middle  of  the 
nineteenth  century  to  remedy  this  state  of  things.  He  devised 
the  scheme  of  a  trial  before  the  health  authorities  as  to  the  exist- 
ence of  a  nuisance,  at  which  trial  the  individual  whose  mainte- 
nance of  the  nuisance  was  complained  of  could  be  heard.  After 
the  determination  made  at  that  trial  the  health  authority  was 
given  the  right  to  proceed  to  the  abatement  of  the  nuisance 
complained  of.  The  attempt  was  made  in  a  test  case  which  was 
immediately  brought  to  enjoin  the  execution  of  a  nuisance  or- 
der made  after  such  a  trial,  but  the  court  refused  to  permit  the 
issue  of  the  injunction,  and  held  that  the  trial  before  the  health 
authority  was  due  process  of  law  under  which  property  might 
be  taken  if  taking  the  property  was  necessary  for  the  abate- 
ment of  the  nuisance.  This  method  is  not,  however,  usually  fol- 
lowed. The  order  for  the  abatement  of  the  conditions  consti- 
tuting a  nuisance  is  usually  issued  without  a  hearing  and  may 


304  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

therefore  be  reviewed  by  a  court  in  a  collateral  proceeding  like 
an  injunction  or  a  suit  for  damages  where  the  order  has  been  en- 
forced. Such  a  method  is  believed  to  be  proper  under  the  usual 
constitutional  provisions. 

Sanitary  Powers  in  France.  By  Article  91  of  the  French 
Municipal  Corporations  Act  of  April  5,  1884,  which  was  taken 
from  the  older  legislation,  the  mayor  is  charged  under  the  su- 
pervision of  the  higher  administrative  authorities  with  the  mu- 
nicipal police.  The  municipal  police  is  denned  in  Article  97, 
Section  I  of  this  law,  where  it  is  said,  "The  municipal  police 
has  as  its  object  to  secure  good  order,  security  -and  public 
health."  Article  97  then  gives  a  long  enumeration  of  matters 
which  are  subject  to  the  police  power  of  the  mayor,  but  it  is  be- 
lieved that  this  enumeration  is  not  of  such  a  character  as  to 
limit  the  extent  of  the  municipal  police  as  it  is  defined  in  Article 
97,  Section  I.44 

The  mayor  exercises  his  powers  through  the  performance  of 
acts  which  are  either  special  or  general  in  character.  The  gen- 
eral acts  or  regulations  which  he  issues  may  be  divided  into 
those  which  are  permanent  and  those  which  are  temporary.  The 
law  of  1884  provides  that  all  acts  to  be  valid  must  be  brought 
to  the  knowledge  of  the  persons  whom  they  concern.  In  the 
case  of  general  acts  this  is  accomplished  by  publication,  in  the 
case  of  special  acts,  by  special  notice.  The  permanent  general 
acts  of  the  mayor  must  be  transmitted  to  the  prefect  who  has 
the  right  to  suspend  or  annul  them  either  for  illegality  or  for 
impropriety,  but  may  not  himself  exercise  any  ordinance  power 
by  modifying  the  ordinances  of  the  mayor.  The  temporary  gen- 
eral regulations  and  the  individual  orders  are  of  immediate 
force  as  soon  as  they  are  brought  to  the  knowledge  of  the  per- 
sons interested.  The  permanent  general  regulations  do  not  have 
the  force  of  law  until  the  expiration  of  a  month  from  the  time 
that  they  are  submitted  to  the  prefect.  In  case  of  urgency, 
however,  the  prefect  can  give  them  immediate  effect.  The 
permanent  general  regulations  have  the  force  of  law  until  they 
are  abrogated  by  the  mayor  or  suspended  by  the  prefect.  The 

44  Jouarre,  "Des  Pouvoirs  de  PAutorite  Municipale  en  Mati&re  d'Hygiene 
et  de  Salubrite,"  p.  15. 


POLICE  ADMINISTRATION  305 

exercise  of  the  municipal  police  power  by  the  mayor  is  thus 
subject  to  the  control  of  the  most  important  representative  of 
the  central  government,  that  is  the  prefect. 

The  broad  police  power  granted  to  the  mayor  has,  however, 
been  considerably  limited  by  the  interpretation  which  the  courts 
have  put  upon  it.  The  courts  have  based  themselves  upon  the 
following  principles:  First,  when  the  law  recognizes  a  private 
right  the  ordinances  of  the  mayor  cannot  attack  it  either  by  re- 
fusing to  recognize,  directly  or  indirectly,  the  existence  of  the 
right,  or  by  limiting  its  extent  or  by  regulating  the  mode  in 
which  it  must  be  exercised.  Second,  an  administrative  ordi- 
nance cannot  impose  an  obligation  upon  individuals  if  that  ob- 
ligation has  not  its  basis  in  the  law.  Applying  these  principles 
the  courts  have  held  that  when  a  parcel  of  real  property  pre- 
sents by  reason  of  its  natural  situation  dangers  to  health,  the 
mayor  cannot  by  an  administrative  order  issued  under  his  gen- 
eral police  power  require  the  proprietor  to  remedy  this  con- 
dition of  things  by  executing  the  work  which  is  necessary  to 
put  it  in  a  sanitary  condition;  that  is,  while  the  mayor  may 
order  the  removal  of  unsanitary  conditions  which  result  from 
the  way  in  which  the  property  is  maintained,  he  may  not  order 
changes  in  the  use  of  the  property,  provided  the  use  is  a  legal 
one,  notwithstanding  that  this  use  may  be  dangerous  to  the 
public  health.  While  subject  to  these  conditions  the  mayor  may 
order  the  owner  of  property  to  put  his  property  in  a  sanitary 
condition,  he  may  not  order  such  owner  to  adopt  any  special 
means  for  putting  the  property  in  such  condition.  The  only 
exception  to  this  last  rule  is  that  the  mayor  may  order  in  the 
larger  cities  the  adoption  of  water-closets  in  place  of  the  old 
privies  which  formerly  existed. 

The  courts  have  also  held  that  the  mayor  may  not  under  the 
general  police  power  issue  ordinances  and  orders  which  have  a 
retroactive  effect.  For  example,  while  he  may  under  this  power 
regulate  methods  of  building  construction  for  the  future  he  may 
not  issue  orders  which  oblige  owners  of  existing  buildings  to 
comply  with  the  requirements  of  the  ordinances.  They  have  also 
held  that  the  mayor  may  not  forbid  the  carrying  on  of  a  trade 
which  is  dangerous  to  the  public  health,  by  all  persons  who  have 


306  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

not  received  a  license  from  himself.  All  he  can  do  is  to  prescribe 
that  ever?  individual  wishing  to  follow  such  trade  must  show 
beforehand  that  he  fulfils  the  conditions  which  are  believed  to  be 
necessary  in  order  to  protect  the  public  health.  He  may  not,  cer- 
tainly, under  such  a  power,  establish  anything  in  the  nature  of  a 
monopoly. 

The  interpretation  of  the  courts  is  no  less  favorable  to  the 
rights  of  individual  liberty  than  it  is  to  the  rights  of  property. 
Thus  it  is  believed  that  under  the  French  law  it  would  be  im- 
proper through  the  exercise  by  the  mayor  of  the  police  power  to 
compel  either  all  persons  or  all  persons  who  have  been  exposed 
to  smallpox  to  be  vaccinated,  or  to  take  any  one  suffering  from  a 
contagious  disease  from  his  own  home  and  put  him  into  a  hos- 
pital. The  only  exception  to  this  latter  rule  is  in  the  case  of 
prostitutes.  The  police  authority  is  permitted  to  insist  that  in- 
fected prostitutes  shall  go  into  the  hospitals  provided  for  them. 

The  application  of  these  principles  has  brought  it  about  also 
that  the  mayor  may  not  through  the  exercise  of  the  police  power 
order  the  undertaking  of  the  work  necessary  to  put  a  building 
into  proper  condition  except  where  the  general  public  health  is 
interested  by  his  action,  that  is,  he  has  not  the  power  to  order  the 
remedy  of  unsanitary  conditions  which  are  susceptible  of  af- 
fecting the  health  only  of  the  owner  or  the  persons  inhabiting 
the  building  complained  of. 

The  powers  of  the  mayor  relative  to  public  health  included  in 
the  general  police  power  were  thus  not  sufficient.  In  1850  a  law 
was  passed  which  provided  for  a  commission  on  unhealthy  dwell- 
ings. Provision  for  such  a  commission  was,  however,  left  to  the 
discretion  of  each  municipal  council,  and  the  law  was  so;  applied 
as  to  be,  as  compared  with  the  public  health  legislation  of  Eng- 
land or  of  the  United  States,  quite  ineffective  and  was  therefore 
repealed  in  1902.  It  had  been  held  thus,  that  the  only  dwellings 
affected  by  the  act  were  dwellings  inhabited  by  human  beings, 
and  by  tenants  and  not  by  owners,  the  law  basing  itself  on  the 
idea  that  it  was  the  owner's  business  if  he  lived  in  an  un- 
healthy house.  Further,  the  commission  had  jurisdiction  only 
where  the  unsanitary  conditions  were  of  such  a  character  as  to 
endanger  the  lives  of  the  tenants.  Thus  it  had  been  several  times 


POLICE  ADMINISTRATION  307 

held  that  the  law  did  not  justify  forcing  an  owner  to  bring  water 
into  a  house,  since  the  presence  of  water  in  a  dwelling  affected 
merely  the  convenience  and  not  the  health  of  the  inhabitants. 
Finally,  the  unsanitary  conditions  which  would  justify  the  inter- 
ference of  the  commission  must  be  due  either  to  the  character 
of  the  dwelling  or  to  the  action  of  the  owner.  That  is,  the  law 
might  not  fre  put  in  force  if  the  unhealthy  conditions  were  due, 
for  example,  to  the  narrowness  of  the  street  upon  which  the 
building  was  situated,  to  the  fact  that  the  building  was  near 
marshes  or  unhealthy  ponds  of  stagnant  water,  or  to  the  acts 
of  the  tenant  acting  under  rights  guaranteed  to  him  by  his  lease. 

Health  Law  of  1902.  In  the  year  1902,  however,  the  French 
legislature  adopted  a  new  and  more  comprehensive  health  law. 
This  law  aims,  in  the  first  place,  at  preventing  the  spread  of 
contagious  diseases,  and  in  the  second  place,  at  improving  the 
sanitary  conditions  of  dwelling  houses;  and  with  these  ends  in 
view  increases  very  greatly  the  powers  of  the  mayor.  It  provides 
thus  for  compulsory  vaccination  against  smallpox.  It  also  gives 
to  the  mayor  the  power  by  ordinance  to  compel  disinfection  of 
all  places  where  there  have  been  cases  of  certain  enumerated 
contagious  diseases,  and  to  order  the  destruction  of  objects  used 
by  those  afflicted  with  such  diseases.  Notice  of  the  existence  of 
such  diseases  must  be  given  to  the  government.  In  places  of 
20,000  inhabitants  and  over  the  work  of  disinfection  is  attended 
to  by  the  municipal  authorities,  in  the  smaller  cities  by  the  de- 
partmental authorities. 

The  law  in  the  second  place  attempts  to  ensure  sanitary  dwell- 
ings by  providing  that  in  urban  communities  of  20,000  in- 
habitants and  over  no  one  may  erect  a  dwelling  without  a  build- 
ing permit  to  be  granted  by  the  mayor,  which  permit  is  granted 
only  after  an  examination  of  the  building  plans.  In  case  such 
permit  is  refused  appeal  may  be  made  to  the  prefect  of  the  de- 
partment. If  the  prefect  upholds  the  decision  of  the  mayor,  ap- 
peal may  be  taken  to  the  highest  administrative  court,  viz.,  the 
Council  of  State,  if  the  mayor  has  exceeded  his  powers,  i.e.,  if 
the  refusal  to  issue  the  permit  is  due  to  any  other  reason  than 
failure  to  observe  the  building  ordinances  which  the  law  requires 
the  mayor  to  issue. 


308  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

The  law  of  1902,  finally,  gives  to  the  mayor  power  to  require 
changes  to  be  made  in  existing  landed  property  which  are  neces- 
sary in  order  to  put  it  into  a  sanitary  condition.  In  the  per- 
formance of  his  duties  with  regard  to  existing  property,  the 
mayor  is  aided  by  a  sanitary  district  board.  The  sanitary  dis- 
tricts over  which  these  boards  have  jurisdiction  are  made  by  the 
general  councils  of  the  departments  and  as  a  matter  of  fact  are 
identical  with  the  ordinary  districts  (arrondissements] .  The 
boards  must  include  in  their  number — at  least  five  and  at  most 
nine — a  member  of  the  general  council  of  the  department  elected 
by  it,  a  physician,  a  pharmacist,  an  architect  or  builder,  and  a 
veterinary,  appointed  by  the  prefect. 

If  any  property  is  dangerous  to  the  public,  the  mayor,  or  in 
case  of  his  negligence  the  prefect,  shall  ask  the  sanitary  district 
board  to  give  its  opinion  on  the  nature  of  the  repairs  to  be  made, 
and  upon  the  expediency  of  forbidding  the  use  of  the  property 
for  purposes  of  habitation  until  the  unsanitary  conditions  have 
been  remedied.  Persons  interested  in  the  property  must  be 
heard  before  the  board  if  they  so  desire.  In  case  the  board  de- 
cides in  favor  of  the  owner,  the  prefect  may  bring  the  matter  be- 
fore the  departmental  board  of  health,  which  may  reverse  the 
decision  of  the  district  board.  The  mayor  is  then  to  issue  an 
order  enforcing  the  decision  of  the  board.  Appeal  may  be  taken 
from  his  order  to  the  administrative  courts,  which  may  reverse  or 
modify  the  decision  of  the  board  and  may  consider  questions  of 
fact  as  well  as  of  law. 

The  law  in  the  interest  of  forcing  the  municipal  authorities  to 
take  steps  for  the  improvement  of  sanitary  conditions  provides 
for  a  central  administrative  control  over  the  exercise  of  his 
powers  by  the  mayor.  Thus,  if  a  mayor  does  not  issue  the  sani- 
tary and  building  ordinances  required  by  the  law  the  prefect  may 
himself  issue  one  for  the  commune  over  which  such  mayor  has 
jurisdiction.  Thus,  again,  if  in  any  commune  the  death  rate  for 
three  consecutive  years  exceeds  the  average  death  rate  of  France 
the  prefect  of  the  department  is  to  institute  an  inquiry.  If  it  is 
determined  as  a  result  of  such  inquiry  that  sanitary  works,  es- 
pecially water  works,  should  be  provided  the  prefect  may  force 
the  undertaking  of  such  works. 


POLICE  ADMINISTRATION  309 

It  will  be  seen  from  this  analysis  of  the  public  health  law  of 
France  that,  notwithstanding  the  absence  of  all  constitutional 
protection  of  private  rights,  such  rights  have  been  given  a  pro- 
tection which  is  hardly  consistent  with  the  public  safety.  Before 
closing  what  is  said  as  to  the  police  of  public  health  and  safety 
in  French  cities  mention  should  be  made  of  the  fact  that  the 
force  for  the  extinguishment  of  fires  (sapeurs  et  pompiers) 
is  completely  centralized  under  the  prefect  of  the  department  and 
the  Minister  of  the  Interior.  Sanitary  administrative  condi- 
tions in  Italian  cities  are  similar  to  those  in  France,  with  the 
single  exception  that  the  council  in  Italy  has  the  sanitary  ordi- 
nance power.  In- Italy  as  in  France  the  same  care  is  taken  by  the 
law  to  give  the  individual  a  judicial  remedy  against  administra- 
tive action. 

Public  Health  and  Safety  in  Germany.  The  police  of  public 
health  and  safety  is  arranged  in  somewhat  the  same  way  in 
Prussia  as  in  France.  The  police  power  within  a  city,  it  will  be 
remembered,  is  granted  either  to  an  appointee  of  the  central 
government,  i.e.,  the  police  president  or  police  director,  or  to  the 
burgomaster  who  is  appointed  by  the  city  council  subject  to  the 
approval  of  the  central  government.*5  By  the  side  of  the  local 
police  authority  is  placed  in  all  cities  of  five  thousand  inhabit- 
ants and  over  a  health  board  which  is  composed  of  a  representa- 
tive of  the  local  police  authority,  a  representative  of  the  city 
executive,  appointed  by  it  from  several  physicians  to  be  nomi- 
nated by  the  local  police  authority,  and  of  three  citizens  of  the 
city  to  be  chosen  by  either  the  city  council  or  the  city  executive. 
Finally,  in  places  in  which  there  is  a  garrison  several  officers 
from  the  garrison  are  to  serve  on  the  board  as  well  as  a  repre- 
sentative of  the  military  medical  staff.  The  functions  of  this 
board  would  seem  to  be  largely  consultative  in  character.*8 

The  content  of  the  municipal  police  power  which  is  vested  in 
the  police  authorities  is  defined  in  the  law  of  the  llth  of  March, 
1850,  upon  police  administration.  This,  like  the  French  law, 
contains  a  long  enumeration  of  objects  which  may  be  regulated 
by  police  ordinances  and  in  addition  thereto  also  contains  a  gen- 

45  Mascher,  "Polizeiverwaltung,"  Vol.  II,  p.  65. 
4«  Ibid.,  p.  68. 


310  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

eral  clause  and  it  would  seem  to  be  considered  within  the  power 
of  the  municipal  police  authorities  to  issue  ordinances  which 
regulate  subjects  not  contained  within  the  enumeration  but  fall- 
ing within  the  general  conception  of  local  police.47  Police  regu- 
lations may  be  issued  for  the  entire  municipal  district  or  portions 
thereof.  The  regulations  which  are  issued  must,  however,  be 
approved  by  certain  other  authorities.  For  example,  in  the  case 
of  police  ordinances  relative  to  the  public  safety  the  city  execu- 
tive must  be  heard ;  in  the  case  of  all  other  police  ordinances  its 
consent  must  be  given,  in  order  that  the  ordinance  shall  be  valid. 
If  the  city  executive  refuses  its  consent  appeal  may  be  taken  by 
the  local  police  authority  to  the  higher  administrative  authorities 
of  the  state  whose  consent  and  approval  of  the  regulations  will 
then  be  sufficient  to  make  it  valid.  In  urgent  cases  the  local 
police  authority  may  issue  police  ordinances  without  obtaining 
the  consent  of  the  city  executive.  If,  however,  the  necessary 
consent  is  not  obtained  within  four  weeks  from  the  date  of  their 
issue,  or  the  consent  of  the  higher  administrative  authorities  is 
not  obtained,  the  ordinance  goes  out  of  force.  The  local  police 
authorities  may  impose  penalties  as  high  as  thirty  marks  for 
violations  of  their  ordinances.  Finally,  the  higher  administra- 
tive authorities  have  always  the  right  to  annul  the  municipal 
police  ordinances.48 

The  municipal  police  authorities  have  the  right  to  issue  not 
merely  ordinances  laying  down  general  rules  of  conduct,  but  also, 
individual  orders  of  special  application  which  are  directed  to 
some  one  individual,  ordering  him  to  put  his  property  in  a  con- 
dition which  will  not  be  prejudicial  to  the  public  health  or  safety. 
The  power  of  the  German  police  authorities  would  seem  to  be 
about  the  same  as  that  of  the  French  municipal  police  authori- 
ties. A  decision  of  the  Imperial  German  Court  has  held  that  it  is 
within  the  police  power  granted  to  the  municipal  police  authori- 
ties to  prevent,  under  penalties,  a  use  of  property  which  is  dan- 
gerous to  life  and  health,  even  if  such  order  will  indirectly  re- 
quire changes  in  the  property  itself.49  Furthermore  no  new 

*7  Mascher,  "Polizeiverwaltung,"  Vol.  II,  pp.  147-8. 

48  Leidig,  "Preussisches  Stadtrecht,"  pp.  457-459. 

*»  "Entscheidungen  des  Reichsgerichts  in  Strafsachen,"  Vol.  IV,  p.  106. 


POLICE  ADMINISTRATION  311 

building  may  be  erected  except  where  a  permit  has  been  granted 
by  the  police  authority.  But  police  authorities  may  not  force  a 
sick  person  to  leave  his  or  her  dwelling  and  go  to  a  contagious 
diseases  hospital.  The  only  persons  who  may  be  forced  into 
public  hospitals  are  homeless  vagrants  and  prostitutes.50  In 
Germany,  finally,  the  municipal  police  authorities  have  the  right, 
themselves,  to  fix  penalties  for  the  violation  of  their  orders  and 
ordinances.  So  far  as  orders  are  concerned  this  seems  to  be 
peculiar  to  the  German  system.  As  a  rule  the  penalties  for 
violation  of  orders  are  fixed  in  the  Penal  Code. 

The  powers  which  ^Prussian  municipal  police  authorities  have, 
particularly  their  ordinance  powers,  are  very  large.  As  a  result 
of  their  exercise  it  is  possible  for  Prussian  cities  with  the  con- 
sent of  the  central  government  to  deal  very  effectively  with  prob- 
lems of  population  congestion  and  housing.  They  can,  and 
do,  by  a  system  of  building  restrictions,  regulate  the  character 
of  different  city  districts  and  prevent  the  establishment  of 
factories  in  certain  districts  which  are  reserved  for  residences. 
In  their  action  also  they  may  be  moved  by  aesthetic  as  well  as  sani- 
tary considerations.  It  is  through  the  exercise  of  these  powers 
that  Prussian  cities,  which  in  this  respect  occupy  a  somewhat 
peculiar  position,  have  been  recently  engaged  in  a  process  of 
physical  reconstruction.  This  policy  is  accompanied  by  far- 
sighted  consideration  of  the  needs  of  future  development. 

Methods  of  Ezercise  in  the  United  States.  A  word  as  to  the 
way  in  which  the  powers  of  health  and  similar  authorities  are 
exercised,  and  as  to  the  power  the  individual  has  to  appeal  to 
the  courts  from  their  decisions,  is  necessary  to  a  correct  under- 
standing of  the  actual  position  in  the  eyes  of  the  law  of  the  au- 
thorities provided  for  the  police  of  public  health  and  safety. 

The  acts  of  individual  application  which  may  be  done  by  these 
authorities  may  take  on  the  form  of  a  decision  or  an  order.  In 
the  case  of  a  decision  no  further  action  on  the  part  of  the  authori- 
ties may  be  necessary  in  order  to  execute  the  law.  Thus,  if  it  is 
necessary,  as  is  often  the  case  in  the  building  law,  that  plans 
must  be  approved  before  the  individual  may  build,  the  decision 
by  the  building  police  authority  approving  or  disapproving  a 

eo  Maacher,  "Polizeiverwaltung,"  Vol.  II,  pp.  70,  72,  76. 


312  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

given  plan  exhausts  the  legal  action  of  the  authority  as  to  this 
particular  matter.  The  law-abiding  citizen  whose  plans  have 
been  properly  disapproved  will  amend  them  to  suit  the  wishes  of 
the  building  police  authorities. 

In  the  case  of  an  order  and  even  of  a  decision,  sometimes,  how- 
ever, it  may  be  necessary  in  order  that  the  law  be  executed,  that 
the  building  or  health  authorities  do  something  further  in  order 
to  enforce  the  law.  Thus,  suppose  that  one  whose  plans  have 
been  disapproved  by  the  building  authorities  proceeds  to  build 
in  accordance  with  plans  which  have  been  disapproved,  or  sup- 
pose a  person  fails  to  abate  a  nuisance  which  he  has  been  ordered 
to  remove  by  the  health  authorities.  In  one  case  the  mere  re- 
fusal of  permission  to  build,  or  in  the  other  the  order  to  abate 
the  nuisance,  is  not  sufficient  to  cause  the  law  to  be  executed. 

There  are  two  kinds  of  actions  which  can  then  be  taken  to 
execute  the  law.  First,  the  police  authority  may  proceed  to  exe- 
cute its  order  by  applying  physical  force  to  the  person  disobey- 
ing its  order,  by  arresting  him,  or  to  the  thing  which  constitutes 
the  nuisance  by  destroying  it,  that  is  in  the  case  of  the  build- 
ing, by  tearing  it  down,  or  second,  if  the  order  consists  in  a  com- 
mand to  do  a  certain  thing,  as  for  example,  to  put  in  sanitary 
plumbing  in  the  place  of  unsanitary  plumbing,  the  disinfection 
of  a  place  where  there  has  been  a  case  of  contagious  disease,  etc., 
the  police  authority  may  proceed  to  do  itself  the  thing  ordered, 
when  the  expenses  to  which  it  is  put  may  be  made  either  a  lien 
on  the  property  on  which  the  work  has  been  done  or  an  obligation 
of  the  person  in  default.  These  expenses  may  be  recovered 
either  in  an  action  before  a  court  or  by  execution  without  resort 
to  a  court. 

The  real  powers  of  authorities  of  sanitary  and  public  safety 
police  depend  on  the  degree  to  which  they  may  act  without  re- 
sort to  a  court  of  some  sort  for  an  order.  Thus,  if  they  may  of 
their  own  motion  order  the  abatement  of  a  nuisance  or  the 
pulling  down  of  a  construction,  and  collect  the  expenses  to  which 
they  have  been  put  by  the  negligence  or  refusal  of  some  one  to 
act  whose  duty  it  was  to  act,  they  have  very  wide  powers.  If, 
on  the  other  hand,  they  have  in  these  cases  to  get  an  order  of  a 


POLICE  ADMINISTRATION  313 

court  of  some  sort  they  are  subjected  to  a  judicial  control  which 
may  greatly  limit  their  effectiveness. 

The  general  rule  of  the  American  law  is  in  the  first  place  that 
there  is  no  constitutional  objection  to  the  exercise  of  all  of  these 
powers  by  administrative  authorities  without  any  judicial  inter- 
vention ;  but  that  in  the  second  place  such  powers  are  commonly 
granted  only  in  the  case  of  the  removal  of  nuisances,  and  no 
powers  are  given  them  of  collecting,  without  judicial  inter- 
vention, the  expenses  to  which  they  have  been  put.  Such  sum- 
mary proceedings  are  not,  however,  permitted  under  the  French 
law.  Resort  must  be  had  to  the  courts.  The  only  exception  to 
this  statement  would  appear  to  be  in  the  case  of  imminent  danger 
to  the  public.  The  German  rule  would  appear  to  be  the  same  as 
in  France.  In  England,  as  has  been  said,  the  order  of  a  justice 
of  the  peace  is  necessary  even  to  abate  a  nuisance. 

Judicial  Kemedies.  Now,  in  so  far  as  administrative  authori- 
ties are  permitted  to  act  in  these  cases  of  their  own  motion  with- 
out judicial  intervention,  it  is  necessary  to  provide  some  means 
for  a  judicial  review  of  their  action.  It  is  also  necessary  that 
such  a  review  be  provided  in  case  of  their  decisions,  as,  e.  g.,  their 
disapproval  of  building  plans.  The  review  may  be  administra- 
tive or  judicial  in  character.  That  is,  it  may  be  made  by  an  ad- 
ministrative superior  on  appeal  from  one  aggrieved  by  the  action, 
or  it  may  be  made  to  a  court.  The  administrative  appeal 
would  appear  to  exist  generally  on  the  continent,  and  special 
and  elaborate  provision  for  it  is  made  in  Germany.  It  does  not 
exist,  however,  in  either  England  or  the  United  States,  except 
in  very  rare  instances,  but  the  review  must  be  by  the  courts. 

Two  methods  of  providing  a  judicial  review  are  to  be  found. 
Either  the  ordinary  courts  are  given  jurisdiction,  or  special 
courts,  which  are  usually  spoken  of  as  administrative  courts,  are 
formed  for  this  purpose.  The  former  method  is  the  one  nor- 
mally adopted  in  England  and  the  United  States.  In  England, 
however,  of  late  the  tendency  has  been  to  deny  or  to  limit  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  ordinary  courts  and  to  make  use  of  the  court 
of  quarter  sessions,  which  is  mainly  an  administrative  court,  and 
to  which  appeal  may  be  taken  from  any  of  the  decisions  of  the 


314  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

local  sanitary  authorities.51  In  the  United  States  the  courts 
exercise  their  jurisdiction  by  the  issue  of  an  injunction  and  by 
entertaining  suits  either  against  officers  for  damages  or  against 
individuals  brought  by  the  administrative  department  for  penal- 
ties or  for  the  expense  incurred  in  the  abatement  of  the  nuisance. 

In  France,  Italy  and  Germany,  however,  the  jurisdiction  is 
given  to  the  administrative  courts.  In  France,  Italy,  Germany 
and  in  England,  in  the  case  of  the  court  of  quarter  sessions,  the 
review  of  the  courts  may  embrace  questions  of  fact  as  well  as  of 
law.  In  the  United  States  the  courts,  however,  have  to  confine 
themselves  to  questions  of  law  except  in  the  case  of  actions 
brought  by  sanitary  authorities  to  recover  expenses,  when  they 
may  consider  the  question  of  fact  as  to  whether  the  conditions 
complained  of  were  of  such  a  character  as  to  constitute  a  menace 
to  public  health  and  safety,  but  even  in  these  cases  the  courts 
will  reverse  the  determination  of  the  sanitary  police  authori- 
ties only  when  that  determination  is  absolutely  contrary  to  the 
evidence.  But  the  question  as  to  whether  the  conditions  com- 
plained of  constitute  a  nuisance  is  often  regarded  as  a  question 
of  law  where  a  statute  or  ordinance  has  not  clearly  declared  such 
conditions  to  be  a  nuisance. 

It  will  be  seen  from  what  has  been  said  that  the  powers  of 
sanitary  and  public  safety  police  authorities  in  the  American 
cities  are  very  large.  This  is  due,  first,  to  the  wide  extent  of 
their  powers,  in  which  they  resemble  the  English  authorities; 
second,  to  the  fact  that  they  may  proceed  so  frequently  with- 
out resort  to  judicial  intervention,  in  which  they  would  seem  to 
occupy  a  peculiar  position;  and  finally,  to  the  fact  that  their 
decisions  are  so  seldom  susceptible  of  judicial  review  as  to  the 
facts,  in  which  they  also  occupy  a  peculiar  position.  A  good  ex- 
ample of  the  extent  and  variety  of  police  powers  of  this  char- 
acter possessed  by  municipal  authorities  is  to  be  found  in  the 
health  provisions  of  the  present  charter  of  the  City  of  New  York. 

It  may  well  be  doubted  whether  the  powers  possessed  by  these 
authorities  in  the  United  States,  in  those  cases  in  which  their 
powers  are  the  greatest,  are  not  too  great.  Their  discretion  is 

6i  Husband,  "Sanitary  Law,"  p.  121. 


POLICE  ADMINISTRATION  315 

so  wide  and  so  uncontrolled  that  it  offers  large  opportunities 
for  official  oppression  and,  if  current  rumor  may  be  credited, 
this  discretion  has  in  the  past  been  made  use  of  in  many  cases, 
not  so  much  to  protect  the  public  safety  and  health  as  to  enrich 
the  officers  of  the  health  and  building  departments  through  the 
levy  of  blackmail,  or  to  obtain  political  support  for  the  party 
in  control  of  the  city  government.  Prussia,  in  which  the  legal 
conditions  were  at  one  time  somewhat  the  same,  went  through 
much  the  same  experience.  During  the  reactionary  period  fol- 
lowing the  Revolution  of  1848  these  police  powers  were  used 
to  suppress  the  Liberal  party ;  the  abuse  was  so  great  that  after 
the  reorganization  of  Germany  about  1870,  administrative  courts 
were  formed  to  control  the  discretion  of  the  police  officers  of 
health  and  public  safety,  so  that  these  police  powers  should  be 
used  only  in  the  interest  of  the  public  health  and  safety  for 
which  they  had  been  given. 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE  ADMINISTRATION  OF  CHARITIES  AND   CORRECTION 

References : 

Fairlie,  J.  A.,  "Municipal  Administration,"  Chap.  IX.  James,  H.  G.,  "Mu- 
nicipal Functions,"  pp.  172-185.  Zueblin,  C.,  "  American  Municipal  Prog- 
ress," Chap.  IX.  Henderson,  C.  R.,  "Modern  Methods  of  Charity,"  pp. 
165-234,  380-511.  Henderson,  C.  R.,  "Introduction  to  the  Study  of  the 
Dependent,  Defective  and  Delinquent  Classes,"  pp.  35-77.  Folks,  H.,  Prob- 
lems in  the  Administration  of  Municipal  Charities,  Annals  of  the  Ameri- 
can Academy  of  Political  and  Social  Science,  Vol.  XXIII  (1904),  pp.  268- 
280.  Folks,  H.,  Report  of  the  Committee  on  Municipal  and  County  Chari- 
ties, Proceedings  of  the  National  Conference  of  Charities  and  Corrections, 
1898,  pp.  106-113.  Quincy,  J.,  Administration  of  Municipal  Charities,  Pro- 
ceedings of  the  National  Conference  of  Charities  and  Corrections, 
1898,  pp.  198-205.  Bardwell,  F.,  Standards  of  Almshouse  Administration, 
Proceedings  of  the  National  Conference  for  Social  Work,  1917,  pp.  357-364. 
Scott,  E.  L.,  Organization  of  Municipal  Welfare  Activities,  Proceedings  of 
the  National  Conference  for  Social  Work,  1917,  pp.  379-387. 

Early  Methods.  Since  the  time  that  public  charity  began  to  be 
regarded  as  an  object  of  state  action,  its  administration  has 
very  commonly  been  confused  with  that  of  public  correction. 
During  the  Middle  Ages  the  administration  of  public  charity 
was  everywhere  regarded  as  a  duty  of  the  church.  The  ad- 
monitions of  the  Christian  religion  enjoined  upon  the  rich  the 
duty  of  giving  to  the  poor.  The  mere  giving  to  the  poor  by 
those  who  were  able  was  regarded  as  a  pious  act  and  little  em- 
phasis was  laid  by  the  precepts  of  the  church  upon  any  duty 
of  investigating  into  the  worth  of  the  recipient  of  charity.  The 
result  of  such  indiscriminate  charity  was  the  development  of  a 
class  of  professional  beggars  who  joined  to  their  profession  of 
begging  the  incidental  profession  of  pilfering  and  thieving. 
When  the  Reformation  came,  the  ideas  of  the  Christian  church 
with  regard  to  the  giving  of  charity  were  very  sensibly  modi- 
fied in  those  portions  of  Europe  which  gave  adherence  to  the 
reformed  doctrine.  Indeed,  prior  to  the  beginning  of  the  Ref- 
ormation the  nuisance  of  vagabonds  and  beggars  had  become  so 
great  that  in  Germany  the  Imperial  Diet  in  the  year  1497  or- 

316 


CHARITIES  AND  CORRECTION  317 

dered  that  only  disabled  persons  and  those  unable  to  work  should 
be  permitted  to  beg,  and  that  other  beggars  should  be  punished 
as  vagrants.  A  similar  ordinance  of  the  year  1530  made  it 
the  duty  of  each  local  district  to  support  its  own  poor.  The 
policy  of  the  Protestant  countries  of  taking  away  from  the 
monasteries  their  property  and  thus  making  it  impossible  for  the 
poor  to  be  supported  by  the  church,  as  they  had  been  in  the  past, 
rendered  it  necessary  for  these  countries  to  make  some  public 
provision  for  the  poor.  The  principles  which  underlay  the  sys- 
tem adopted  were  practically  little  more  than  a  development  of 
those  laid  down  in  the  imperial  ordinances  to  which  reference 
has  been  made.  These  were  the  distinction  between  able-bodied 
beggars  who  were  treated  as  vagrants  and  those  unable  to  work, 
and  the  imposition  upon  the  smallest  localities  of  the  burden  of 
supporting  the  latter  class  of  the  poor.  In  Germany  the  pro< 
visions  of  the  new  poor  laws  with  regard  to  the  duty  of  the 
localities  to  support  the  worthy  poor  were  not,  however,  suffi- 
ciently detailed  to  permit  of  the  development  of  a  well-regulated 
poor  system.  Further,  no  adequate  provision  was  made  for  se- 
curing the  necessary  resources  upon  which  such  a  poor  law  sys- 
tem might  be  based.  Finally,  the  severe  laws  against  able- 
bodied  paupers  were  not  capable  of  enforcement. 

In  the  countries,  on  the  other  hand,  which  maintained  their 
allegiance  to  the  old  ecclesiastical  institutions  little  change  in 
the  conditions  which  existed  prior  to  the  Reformation  was  made. 
It  is  true  that  in  France  in  the  latter  part  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury, largely  as  a  result  of  the  influence  of  the  new  religious 
ideas,  several  royal  ordinances  imposed  upon  the  localities  the 
support  of  the  poor  who  were  native  and  resided  therein,  and 
forbade  all  persons  to  wander  outside  of  the  commune  in  pur- 
suit of  alms.  As  a  result,  however,  of  the  conversion  of  Henry 
IV  to  the  Roman  Catholic  faith,  France  did  not  follow  the  ex- 
ample of  England  and  the  other  Protestant  countries  in  estab- 
lishing a  poor  tax  and  legal  right  to  public  charity,  but  so  long 
as  the  ecclesiastical  institutions  possessed  large  amounts  of  prop- 
erty, relied  mainly  on  them  for  the  giving  of  alms  to  the  poorer 
classes  of  the  community.  As  a  result  of  this  development 
wherever  public  charity  became  a  matter  of  public  administra- 


318  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

tion,  the  matter  fell  within  the  sphere  of  activity  of  the  various 
localities  rather  than  within  that  of  the  central  government. 

The  care  of  prisons  and  places  of  confinement  generally  had 
also  from  an  early  period  been  regarded  as  falling  within  the 
sphere  of  local  administrative  activity.  The  conditions  in  Eng- 
land prior  to  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  are  typi- 
cal of  those  which  existed  everywhere  throughout  Europe  and 
America.  Here  the  normal  prison  was  the  county  jail.  As  a 
result  of  the  fact  that  the  larger  cities  were  at  the  same  time 
cities  of  counties  or  boroughs  of  counties,  the  county  jails  in  the 
larger  cities  may  be  regarded  as  municipal  institutions.  In  ad- 
dition to  the  county  jails  there  were  also  institutions  known  as 
houses  of  correction  or  bridewells,  which  weie  likewise  under 
the  control  of  the  municipal  authorities  in  the  larger  boroughs. 

The  conditions  of  these  local  prisons  everywhere  throughout 
the  civilized  world  were  of  the  very  worst  possible  character. 
They  constituted  one  of  the  greatest  blots  on  the  administrative 
history  of  every  country.  In  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  owing  largely  to  the  exertions  of  John  Howard,  who 
had  spent  some  time  as  a  prisoner  in  the  city  of  Brest,  in  France, 
and  who  had  made  an  investigation  of  the  prisons  both  of  Eng- 
land and  of  other  countries,  an  attempt  was  made  to  reform  the 
prison  administration. 

Separation  of  Charities  from  Correction.  The  reform  of  the 
prison  administration  which  has  taken  place  in  all  countries  of 
the  world  has  been  very  strongly  marked  by  a  tendency  to  take 
away  the  administration  of  prisons  from  the  control  of  the 
local  authorities  and  to  put  them  in  the  hands  of  the  central 
administration.  This  has  been  done  in  England  and  the  con- 
tinent of  Europe  and  to  a  large  extent  in  the  United  States.  In 
the  United  States,  however,  at  the  present  time  there  are  quite 
a  number  of  the  larger  cities  which  have,  as  did  the  boroughs  of 
counties  in  England  prior  to  the  reform  started  by  John  Howard, 
the  control  of  local  houses  of  detention,  or  of  other  correctional 
institutions.  At  the  same  time  even  in  the  United  States  there  is 
no  state  which  has  not  taken  into  its  own  administration  the 
more  important  prisons,  that  is  the  prisons  in  which  long-term 
prisoners  are  confined. 


CHARITIES  AND  CORRECTION  319 

In  the  cities  of  the  United  States  which  have  retained  control 
of  correctional  institutions,  it  has  not  infrequently  been  the  case 
in  the  past  and  is  usually  the  case  in  the  present,  that  the  ad- 
ministration of  these  correctional  institutions  is  entrusted  to  the 
same  hands  to  which  is  entrusted  the  administration  of  the  chari- 
table institutions  which  are  supported  by  the  city. 

During  the  last  twenty-five  or  thirty  years,  however,  a  serious 
attempt  has  been  made  to  separate  the  administration  of  insti- 
tutions of  correction  from  that  of  charitable  institutions.  Of  the 
seventy-three  cities  of  over  40,000  inhabitants  in  the  United 
States  in  1890,  twenty-seven  made  a  separation  of  their  charitable 
from  their  correctional  institutions ;  eight  did  not,  and  the  condi- 
tions in  thirty-eight  were  not  stated.1 

Insane  Poor.  Not  only  has  a  separation  been  made  between 
charities  and  corrections,  but  very  generally  the  attempt  has 
been  made  to  distinguish  between  the  ordinary  poor  and  the 
insane  poor.  Even  in  those  countries  such  as  France,  where 
a  legal  right  to  alms  is  not  recognized,  the  insane  poor  are  re- 
garded as  especially  deserving  of  public  charity,  and  by  the 
law  must  be  supported  by  the  public.  The  support  of  the  in- 
sane poor,  however,  has  very  generally  devolved  upon  some 
organ  of  government  having  a  larger  jurisdiction  than  the 
municipal  authorities.  Thus,  for  example,  in  England,  the  care 
of  the  insane  poor  is  by  an  act  of  1890  imposed  upon  the  county. 
The  only  exceptions  to  this  rule  are  to  be  found  in  the  case  of 
boroughs  which  are  at  the  same  time  counties.  In  these  bor- 
oughs the  borough  council  must  either  provide  an  asylum  or  make 
an  arrangement  with  some  neighboring  county  or  borough  for 
the  support  of  its  insane  poor.  On  the  continent  of  Europe 
the  care  of  the  insane  poor  is  in  principle  entrusted  to  some 
larger  administrative  district  than  the  city.  Thus,  in  France, 
this  matter  is  attended  to  by  the  department;  in  Prussia,  by 
the  province.  In  these  latter  countries,  therefore,  the  cities  as 
such  have  no  administrative  functions  to  discharge  with  regard 
to  the  insane  poor  or  the  criminal  classes.  Similar  conditions 
obtain  in  most  of  the  states  of  the  United  States,  where  the  bur- 

i  Conference  for  Charities  and  Corrections,  1898,  Report  on  Municipal 
and  County  Charities  by  Homer  Folks,  p.  106. 


320  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

den  of  the  support  of  the  insane  poor  is  imposed  either  on  the 
state  as  a  whole,2  or  upon  the  county.  In  all  cases  where  the 
support  of  the  insane  poor  devolves  upon  any  one  of  the  local 
corporations,  such  as  the  county  in  England,  the  department  in 
France,  and  the  province  in  Prussia,  practically  all  that  the 
local  corporation  has  to  do  is  to  provide  the  necessary  money  for 
the  support  of  these  classes  of  the  community.  The  administra- 
tion of  the  asylums  in  which  these  persons  are  confined  is  very 
largely  under  the  control  of  the  central  administrative  authori- 
ties of  the  state,  as,  for  example,  in  France  and  in  Prussia,  or  is 
under  their  direct  administration,  as  in  most  of  the  states  of  this 
country. 

In  some  of  the  states  of  the  United  States,  however,  the  sup- 
port and  administration  of  the  insane  poor  are  still  in  the  hands 
of  the  city  authorities.  This  is  the  case,  for  example,  in  Chicago, 
where  the  commissioners  of  Cook  County,  which  is  practically 
the  same  district  as  the  City  of  Chicago,  though  the  county  ad- 
ministrative system  is  kept  somewhat  distinct  from  that  of  the 
city,  have  under  their  management  the  county  almshouse,  county 
hospital  and  the  county  insane  asylum.  In  other  cities  of  the 
United  States,  as  for  example,  in  Boston,  while  the  insane  poor 
are  a  city  charge  they  are  differentiated  from  the  ordinary  poor 
and  are  put  under  the  charge  of  the  trustees  of  the  hospital  for 
the  insane,  who  are  appointed  by  the  mayor  of  the  city.  What  is 
true  of  the  insane  poor  is  also  in  large  degree  true  of  the  alien 
poor,  who  are  supported  by  the  state,  though  often  in  county  or 
similar  provincial  institutions. 

We  may  say  then  that  the  tendency  of  the  present  day  is  to 
regard  the  administration  of  correction  as  a  function  of  the 
state,  rather  than  of  the  municipality,  although,  particularly  in 
the  United  States,  a  number  of  the  larger  cities  still  have  charge 
of  this  matter.  What  is  true  of  correction  is  also  true  of  those 
branches  of  public  charity  which  relate  to  the  insane  poor  and 
to  the  alien  poor.  The  only  countries  in  the  world  which  re- 
gard the  care  of  the  insane  poor  as  a  matter  of  city  administra- 
tion are  England  in  the  case  of  the  boroughs  of  counties,  and  the 
United  States  in  some  of  the  larger  cities.  Even  in  England 

2  This  is  true  in  not  less  than  twenty  states. 


CHARITIES  AND  CORRECTION  321 

and  the  United  States,  in  those  states  where  the  insane  and  alien 
poor  are  not  attended  to  by  the  central  authorities  of  the  state 
government,  these  classes  are  generally  cared  for  by  the  larger 
territorial  divisions  of  the  state  and  it  is  only  because  some  of 
the  larger  cities  are  assimilated  to  the  position  of  counties  that 
they  may  be  regarded  as  discharging  functions  in  this  branch  of 
charitable  administration.  Finally,  where  the  cities  have  in  ad- 
dition to  the  management  of  public  charities  also  the  manage- 
ment of  correctional  institutions,  the  tendency  is  to  differentiate 
these  branches  of  activity,  and  to  put  each  of  them  into  the 
charge  of  a  separate  authority.  But  again  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  this  has  not  been  done  in  all  cases  in  the  United 
States. 

Legal  Right  to  Poor  Relief.  Such  being  the  case  we  may  per- 
haps with  propriety  confine  our  study  to  the  institutions  which 
have  been  established  in  the  various  municipalities,  in  order  to 
give  aid  to  the  poor  who  are  not  insane  and  who  have  a  settle- 
ment in  the  state.  The  methods  of  attending  to  this  matter 
may  be  roughly  grouped  under  two  heads.  There  is  one  group 
of  countries  which  are  mainly  at  the  same  time  Teutonic  in 
origin  and  Protestant  in  religion,  in  which  there  is  recognized 
either  a  legal  right  to  poor  relief  enforceable  by  application  to 
the  courts  in  case  of  the  refusal  to  grant  the  relief  by  the  poor 
authorities,  or  in  which,  if  no  such  legal  right  is  recognized,  a 
duty  is  imposed  upon  the  city  or  other  local  district  to  take  care 
of  its  own  poor.  In  the  latter  case  while  there  is  no  resort  to 
the  courts  open  to  individuals  to  whom  poor  relief  has  been  re- 
fused, the  locality  which  is  under  the  legal  duty  of  supporting 
its  own  poor  may  be  forced  either  through  the  exercise  of  a  cen- 
tral administrative  control  or  by  the  action  of  the  courts,  on  the 
instance  of  some  other  authority  which  has  given  relief  to  one 
of  its  own  poor,  to  reimburse  such  authority  or  to  maintain  one 
who  has,  as  a  result  of  legal  decision,  been  sent  to  it  for  support. 

While  the  Teutonic  and  Protestant  countries  thus  recognize  in 
one  form  or  another  a  legal  duty  to  support  the  poor  which  is 
imposed  upon  municipalities,  a  second  group  of  countries  which 
are  at  the  same  time  Latin  in  origin  and  mainly  Roman  Catholic 
in  religion,  do  not  generally  recognize  any  such  duty  as  being 


322  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

imposed  upon  any  locality,  and  do  not,  except  in  a  few  unimpor- 
tant cases,  provide  any  legal  poor  rate  or  tax  which  may  be  im- 
posed upon  the  inhabitants  of  the  municipality  and  from  the 
receipts  of  which  the  poor  are  to  be  maintained. 

The  difference  in  the  poor  law  between  these  two  classes  of 
countries  naturally  has  a  most  important  influence  upon  the 
whole  system  of  administration  of  public  charities.  For  ex- 
ample, in  the  first  group  of  countries,  it  is  very  commonly  the 
case  that  provision  is  made  for  institutions  of  some  sort  in  which 
the  poor  to  whom  public  charity  is  given  are  maintained.  Such 
a  system  of  poor  houses  may  be  combined  at  the  same  time  with 
the  giving  of  out-door  relief.  In  the  countries,  on  the  other 
hand,  which  do  not  recognize  any  legal  duty  as  imposed  upon 
the  localities  to  support  their  poor,  there  are  no  such  institutions, 
but  reliance  is  placed  almost  altogether  upon  out-door  relief,  ex- 
cept in  the  case  of  the  sick  poor  for  whom  provision  may  be  made 
through  the  establishment  of  hospitals. 

Poor  Relief  in  England.  With  these  ideas  in  mind,  let  us  then 
take  up  the  conditions  of  poor  law  administration  in  the  munici- 
palities of  various  countries.  In  England  the  support  of  the 
poor  was  by  the  great  poor  law  of  Elizabeth  imposed  upon  the 
various  parishes  which  existed  in  both  the  rural  and  the  urban 
districts.  Isasmuch  as  the  territorial  limits  of  the  parish  bore 
no  relation  whatever  to  those  of  the  borough  and  a  parish  might 
lie  wholly  in  a  borough  or  partly  in  and  partly  outside  of  a  bor- 
ough, while  a  borough  might  embrace  more  than  one  parish,  the 
burden  of  the  support  of  the  poor  was  not  in  any  way  imposed 
upon  the  borough  as  a  borough.  When  the  administration  of 
the  poor  law  under  the  parish  officers  acting  under  the  super- 
vision of  the  justices  of  the  peace  had  proved  itself  to  be  an  in- 
effective method  of  administering  this  branch  of  governmental 
activity,  the  Poor  Law  Amendment  Act  of  1834  provided  for  the 
combination  of  parishes  in  what  came  to  be  known  as  Poor  Law 
Unions.  As  the  unions,  however,  were  composed  of  a  certain 
number  of  parishes  they  bore  no  more  relation  to  the  borough 
than  did  the  parishes  before  them.  Indeed,  at  the  present  time 
in  some  of  the  most  important  English  cities  the  boundary  of  a 
poor  law  union  will  be  found  in  the  middle  of  the  city,  all  por- 


CHARITIES  AND  CORRECTION  323 

tions  of  the  city  lying  on  one  side  of  this  boundary  line  belong- 
ing to  one  union,  all  lying  on  the  other  side  of  the  line  belonging 
to  another.  Further,  the  Poor  Law  Amendment  Act  provided 
for  the  election  of  new  officers  who  were  to  be  known  as  guardians 
of  the  poor,  and  who  had  jurisdiction  over  the  administration 
of  poor  relief  within  the  union  over  which  they  had  jurisdiction. 
The  administrative  organization  provided  by  the  act  of  1834 
has  been  much  modified  by  the  Local  Government  Act  of  1894, 
but  so  far  as  the  relations  of  the  poor  law  union  and  the  guard- 
ians of  the  poor  to  the  borough  and  the  borough  council  are 
concerned,  they  are  left  in  practically  the  same  condition  that 
they  were  prior  to  the  passage  of  the  latter  act.  The  result  is 
that  in  England  it  cannot  be  said  that  the  support  of  the  poor 
is  a  municipal  function.  At  the  same  time  inasmuch  as  the 
poor  law  union  and  the  boards  of  guardians  cannot  fail  to  have 
an  important  influence  on  city  life,  a  few  words  with  regard 
to  the  administration  of  this  branch  of  governmental  activity 
will  not  be  out  of  place.  The  first  thing  to  be  noticed  in  this 
system  is  that  the  poor  law  authority  is,  contrary  to  the  general 
rule  with  regard  to  municipal  authorities,  absolutely  independent 
of  the  borough  council  and  is  elected  directly  by  the  people  of 
the  borough  who  are  resident  within  the  particular  poor  law 
union.  In  the  second  place,  it  is  to  be  noticed  that  in  accordance 
with  the  general  system  the  administration  of  poor  relief  by  these 
boards  of  guardians  is  subjected  to  a  most  strict  central  adminis- 
trative control,  which  is  exercised  by  the  Local  Government 
Board  at  London  and  which  results  in  leaving  very  little  discre- 
tion in  the  hands  of  the  local  authorities.  In  the  third  place,  it 
is  to  be  noticed  that  the  boards  of  poor  law  guardians  are  little 
more  than  deliberative  authorities  who  do  not  spend  any  great 
amount  of  time  in  detail  administration.  This  is  left  in  the 
hands  of  a  professional  officer,  a  person  who  receives  a  salary  and 
devotes  his  entire  time  to  his  work,  who  is  known  as  the  relieving 
officer.  Finally,  it  is  to  be  noticed  that  as  a  result  of  the  policy 
adopted  by  the  Local  Government  Board  at  London  in  its  general 
orders  little  reliance  is  placed  upon  out-door  relief,  but  that 
persons  who  desire  public  relief  are  put,  as  the  phrase  is,  to  the 
"workhouse  test,"  and  are  to  be  supported  in  the  poor  houses 


324  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

which  are  maintained  by  the  boards  of  poor  law  guardians. 

While  the  theory  of  the  English  law  does  not  recognize  any  in- 
dividual as  possessing  a  legal  right  to  poor  relief,  there  are  sev- 
eral cases  which  come  perilously  near  to  holding  that  a  person 
who  has  been  denied  relief  by  the  guardians  of  the  poor  may 
appeal  to  the  justices  of  the  peace  for  an  order  providing  that 
the  relief  shall  be  granted.  The  law  has  also  made  provision  for 
a  tax  for  the  support  of  the  poor  which  has  become  the  most  im- 
portant local  tax  in  the  English  system.  This  is  known  as  the 
poor  rate.  Finally,  the  justices  of  the  peace  may  order  the  re- 
moval of  a  pauper  to  the  parish  in  which  he  has  his  settlement, 
when  the  board  of  guardians  of  the  union  to  which  the  parish 
belongs  are  practically  obliged  to  give  him  relief. 

Poor  Relief  in  Germany.  The  general  theory  is  that  each  city 
must  relieve  all  persons  in  need  of  help.  The  relief  which  must 
be  given  includes  shelter,  the  necessaries  of  life,  care  in  case  of 
sickness  and  a  decent  burial  in  case  of  death.  The  duty  which 
is  imposed  upon  the  city  of  relieving  the  poor  is  either  a  perma- 
nent or  a  temporary  one.  The  permanent  relief  is  to  be  given  to 
all  persons  having  their  settlement  in  the  city.  In  the  case  of 
persons  needing  relief  who  have  no  settlement  within  the  city, 
the  city  must  give  the  relief  but  may  demand  of  the  area  in 
which  such  person  has  his  settlement  a  refund  of  the  expenses  to 
which  it  has  been  put  in  giving  him  the  necessary  relief.  The 
amount  which  any  city  may  demand  of  another  is  determined  by 
a  tariff  fixed  by  the  minister  of  the  interior.  Complaint  on  the 
part  of  a  poor  person  who  has  been  denied  relief  or  who  has 
been  given  insufficient  relief  may  be  made  to  an  administra- 
tive court,  which  may  order  obedience  to  the  law.  Thus  a  legal 
right  to  poor  relief  is  practically  recognized  as  possessed  by 
every  poor  person  in  need  of  relief  who  has  a  settlement.  Con- 
troversies between  poor  law  areas  as  to  settlement  are  deter- 
mined in  the  same  way,  with  appeal,  in  case  the  controversy  is 
between  the  areas  of  different  states  of  the  Empire,  to  the  Im- 
perial Poor  Law  Board.  Finally,  there  is  a  distinction  between 
the  local  and  the  state  poor,  the  latter  being  the  poor  who  have 
no  settlement  in  any  city  or  town  in  the  state.  The  state  poor 
are  relieved  by  the  state,  which  acts  through  the  provincial  cor- 


CHARITIES  AND  CORRECTION  325 

porations,  but  is  in  the  case  of  German  poor  reimbursed  by  the 
state  of  the  Empire  in  which  such  persons  have  their  settlement. 

The  care  of  the  poor  in  the  cities  is  in  the  hands  of  the  city 
executive,  but  may  by  a  municipal  resolution  be  placed  in  the 
hands  of  a  municipal  committee.  This  committee  is  formed,  as 
are  all  of  the  administrative  committees  in  the  German  cities, 
of  members  of  the  municipal  assembly,  of  the  executive  and  of 
citizens  of  the  city  appointed  by  the  municipal  assembly,  ex- 
cept in  the  case  of  the  members  of  the  city  executive,  who  are 
appointed  by  that  body.  It  is  very  commonly  the  case  in  the 
poor  law  administration  for  the  city  to  be  considerably  decen- 
tralized. Within  the  city  are  formed  small  districts  over  which 
are  placed  relieving  officers  who  attend  to  the  routine  administra- 
tion. Several  neighboring  relieving  officers  are  then  joined  to- 
gether as  a  committee,  but  for  the  districts  over  which  they  have 
jurisdiction,  are  permitted  to  act  independently.  The  adminis- 
trative committee  for  the  entire  city  has  thus  merely  the  super- 
vision of  the  administration  and  the  decision  of  the  more  im- 
portant cases.  In  connection  with  these  local  committees  are 
often  a  number  of  friendly  visitors  who  are  appointed  by  them 
and  whose  duty  it  is  to  supervise  the  grant  of  poor  relief  in 
particular  individual  cases.  The  relief  is  given  in  money,  in 
kind,  or  by  sending  the  person  to  be  relieved  to  a  poor  house. 
Out-door  relief,  however,  seems  to  be  more  relied  upon  in  Ger- 
many than  in  England. 

Poor  Relief  in  France.  Conditions  are  very  different  in 
France  from  those  in  England  or  in  Germany.  The  difference  is 
very  largely  due  to  the  fact  that  the  French  law  does  not  recog- 
nize in  any  way  any  legal  right  upon  the  part  of  an  individual 
to  poor  relief  or  any  duty  as  imposed  upon  any  locality  to  re- 
lieve the  poor.  The  communes  including  the  cities  must,  how- 
ever, appropriate  money  for  the  support  of  the  insane  poor  and 
dependent  children  who  are  cared  for  in  departmental  insti- 
tutions. The  French  law,  further,  makes  provision  for  a  relief 
fund  and  for  an  administrative  service  for  the  distribution  of 
this  fund,  and  determines  the  conditions  which  must  be  fulfilled 
by  persons  in  order  to  receive  any  portion  of  such  fund.  The 
fund  is  composed  of  certain  taxes,  such  as  a  tax  of  ten  per  cent 


326  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

on  concert  tickets.  These  taxes  are  distributed  between  the 
bureaus  of  charity,  as  they  are  called,  the  hospitals  and  the 
bureaus  of  medical  assistance.  The  various  institutions  through 
which  the  relief  is  to  be  distributed  have  other  resources  than 
those  coming  from  taxes,  in  that  they  are  all  permitted  to  receive 
gifts  and  legacies,  and  to  solicit  contributions,  while  the  city 
council  may  grant  them  appropriations  from  the  city  budget. 
Certain  French  cities  in  which  the  socialist  party  is  particularly 
strong  have  taken  advantage  of  their  right  to  appropriate  money 
for  purposes  of  charity,  to  extend  very  widely  the  field  of  public 
charitable  work.  All  of  the  institutions  through  which  poor  re- 
lief is  distributed  in  France  are  corporations  separate  from  the 
city  corporation.  The  most  important  of  these  corporations  is 
the  bureau  of  charities  which  regularly  exists  in  every  city.  It 
consists  of  the  mayor,  two  members  elected  by  the  municipal 
council  and  four  members  appointed  by  the  prefect  of  the  de- 
partment. This  bureau  administers  the  poor  relief  with  the  aid 
of  a  receiver  who  is  appointed  by  the  prefect  of  the  department. 
In  addition  to  the  receiver,  whose  main  duty  is  to  receive  and 
take  charge  of  its  property,  it  has  under  it  either  voluntary 
friendly  visitors  or  salaried  visitors,  who  attend  to  the  work  of 
distributing  the  poor  relief  in  somewhat  the  same  manner  as  it 
is  distributed  in  the  German  cities,  where,  it  will  be  remembered, 
much  reliance  is  placed  upon  the  voluntary  efforts  of  citizens  in- 
terested in  charitable  work.  It  is  believed  by  some  that  the 
introduction  of  salaried  visitors,  which  took  place  for  the  first 
time  in  the  city  of  Lyons,  has  had  a  bad  effect  in  introducing 
politics  into  the  distribution  of  public  charity.  Under  this  sys- 
tem of  semi-voluntary  effort  the  French  have  been  successful  in 
keeping  politics  out  of  their  charity  administration. 

It  would  seem  to  be  necessary  in  order  that  any  one  may  re- 
ceive relief  from  a  bureau  of  charity  that  he  shall  have  his  set- 
tlement in  the  commune.  This  is  determined  by  a  general  law 
and  is  based  upon  the  domicile  of  the  mother  of  such  person  at 
the  time  of  his  birth,  in  case  he  is  a  minor,  or  in  case  he  has  at- 
tained his  majority,  by  a  residence  of  one  year  within  the  com- 
mune. The  relief  which  is  distributed  by  the  bureaus  of  charity 
is  almost  exclusively  out-door  relief. 


CHARITIES  AND  CORRECTION  327 

By  the  side  of  the  bureau  of  charities  is  the  bureau  of  gratu- 
itous medical  assistance.  This  is  formed  by  a  common  meet- 
ing of  the  bureau  of  charities  and  of  the  hospital  commission. 
If  there  is  no  hospital  commission  the  bureau  of  charities  sees  to 
the  granting  of  medical  assistance  as  well  as  to  ordinary  chari- 
table relief.  In  case  there  is  no  bureau  of  charities  the  hospital 
commission  discharges  both  functions.  Where  there  is  neither 
a  hospital  commission  nor  a  bureau  of  charities  a  commission  is 
formed  similar  to  the  bureau  of  charities  for  the  distribution 
of  medical  assistance.  Medical  assistance  is  distributed  only 
to  those  persons  who  have  had  themselves  put  on  a  list  which 
is  formed  for  this  purpose.  Only  such  persons  may  be  put  on 
this  list  who  have  a  settlement  in  the  commune  as  above  de- 
scribed and  who  are  in  need  as  determined  by  the  municipal 
council.  This  list  is  left  with  the  mayor's  secretary  and  pub- 
lished in  order  that  the  poor  who  have  not  been  put  thereon 
may  make  their  demands  to  be  included  in  the  list.  There  is  an 
appeal  from  the  decision  of  the  municipal  council  to  a  tribunal 
formed  for  this  purpose.  This  right  of  appeal  is  the  only  ex- 
ception to  the  general  rule  that  no  legal  right  to  poor  relief  is 
recognized. 

The  hospital  commission  is  formed  in  somewhat  the  same  way 
as  the  bureau  of  charities.  This  commission  attends  to  the  ad- 
ministration of  any  hospital  which  exists  in  the  city,  but  under 
a  pretty  strict  central  control,  exercised  as  a  general  thing  by 
the  prefect  of  the  department. 

Poor  Relief  in  Italy.  The  Italian  solution  of  the  question  rela- 
tive to  public  charity  resembles  that  which  has  been  reached  in 
France.  Mere  poverty  gives  no  right  to  relief,  and  no  relief  is 
in  principle  granted  by  any  public  authority  to  any  one.  The 
duty  to  give  medical  assistance  is,  however,  imposed  upon  every 
commune.  This  duty  is  described  in  the  law  as  the  duty  to  give 
medical,  sanitary  and  obstetric  relief.  Its  fulfillment  results  in 
the  appointment  in  each  commune,  where  there  is  no  sufficient 
provision  by  private  charity,  of  one  or  more  official  physicians 
and  midwives  whose  services  are  at  the  disposal  of  the  poor  who 
are  domiciled  in  the  commune.  Sometimes,  after  the  French 
method,  a  list  of  those  qualified  to  receive  this  aid  is  drawn  up 


328  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

by  the  municipal  giunta.  In  other  cases  this  body  lays  down  the 
general  principles  which  shall  govern  the  granting  of  this  relief. 
The  supervisory  authority  has  the  right  to  disapprove  an  ex- 
penditure by  a  commune  for  this  purpose  which  amounts  prac- 
tically to  the  grant  of  relief  to  all  the  persons  resident  within 
the  commune. 

In  addition  to  this  duty  of  according  medical  relief,  the  com- 
munes are  recognized  as  having  the  duty  to  provide  for  the 
poor  who  are  unable  to  work,  where  sufficient  provision  for  this 
class  of  persons  is  not  made  by  institutions  of  private  charity. 

Apart  from  the  aid  thus  granted  by  distinctly  public  agencies 
reliance  is  placed  for  poor  relief  on  private  charity.  The  law 
gives  the  government  large  powers  of  supervision  over  private 
charitable  institutions,  providing  that  where  they  do  not  fulfill 
the  purposes  for  which  they  were  founded  or  where  they  are 
unnecessary  they  may  be  so  changed  as  to  be  made  of  the  great- 
est benefit  to  the  localities  in  which  they  were  established.  In 
exercising  its  power  the  government  is  enjoined  to  carry  out  as 
nearly  as  may  be  the  intentions  of  the  founders. 

Finally,  provision  is  made  by  law  for  the  establishment  of 
what  is  called  a  "congregation  of  charity"  in  each  commune. 
This  body  is  composed  of  a  president  and  a  number  of  members 
varying  from  four  to  twelve  with  the  size  of  the  commune,  ap- 
pointed by  the  municipal  council.  No  more  than  half  of  the 
members  of  a  congregation  may  be  members  of  the  council.  The 
term  is  four  years  and  regularly  the  terms  of  one  quarter  of 
the  members  shall  expire  every  year.  The  congregation  is  to  be 
the  legal  organ  of  every  local  private  charitable  institution  which 
for  any  reason  has  no  such  organ.  Such  a  condition  of  things 
may  happen  where,  for  example,  the  control  of  any  charity  is 
by  will  vested  in  a  particular  family  which  becomes  extinct.  A 
congregation  is  further  declared  by  the  law  to  be  the  organ 
through  which  the  state  discharges  its  function  of  protecting  and 
representing  the  poor.  The  purpose  of  this  provision  would 
seem  to  be  to  provide  some  authority  which  may  take  charge,  e.  g., 
of  bequests  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor,  where  no  trustee  has  been 
provided  or  where  the  one  provided  has  refused  to  serve.  In  its 
capacity  as  the  representative  of  the  poor  it  is  its  duty  to  take  all 


CHARITIES  AND  CORRECTION  329 

necessary  steps  to  care  for  the  interests  of  orphans,  abandoned 
children,  and  of  the  blind  and  the  deaf  and  dumb.  That  is,  the 
congregation  is  to  see  to  it  that  the  legal  relief  granted  to  those 
unable  to  work  is  obtained,  and  that  a  guardian  is  appointed 
where  necessary.  The  congregation  is  also  to  take  care  of  this 
class  of  persons  by  granting  them  the  means  of  subsistence  or 
securing  them  admission  to  some  institution.  These  congrega- 
tions may  not  demand  money  from  the  communes  in  order  to 
discharge  their  duties,  but  must  rely  on  their  own  means.  The 
care  of  the  insane  poor  is,  as  in  most  countries,  devolved  upon 
some  other  administrative  corporation,  viz.,  the  province.3 

Municipal  Charities  in  the  United  States.  The  relative  position 
of  the  county  and  town  in  the  administrative  system  of  the  states 
of  the  United  States  seems  to  have  an  important  effect  on  the 
position  of  the  city  with  regard  to  public  charities.  There  is 
not  a  single  city  in  New  England  of  more  than  40,000  inhabit- 
ants which  does  not  do  some  work  in  the  line  of  public  charities.4 
In  some  cities,  of  course,  the  work  which  is  done  is  more  than  in 
others.  But,  as  a  rule,  every  city  in  New  England  has  munici- 
pal institutions  for  poor  relief  of  some  sort.  The  reason  why 
poor  relief  is  so  generally  regarded  as  a  branch  of  municipal 
government  in  New  England  is  to  be  found  in  the  law  imposing 
on  each  town  the  support  of  its  own  poor.  As  a  city  has  grad- 
ually supplanted  a  town  it  has  taken  upon  itself  the  town 's  duty 
of  supporting  the  poor. 

In  the  middle  and  western  states  the  care  of  the  poor  is  de- 
volved by  the  general  law  upon  the  town  or  the  county  or  upon 
both,  while  in  the  southern  states,  where  the  town  does  not  ex- 
ist, the  support  of  the  poor  is  naturally  devolved  upon  the 
county.  The  result  is  that,  as  a  rule,  the  cities  outside  of  New 
England  which  have  charge  of  poor  relief  are  to  be  found  only 
in  the  middle  and  western  states,  though  more  frequently  in 
the  former  than  in  the  latter,  while  in  the  southern  states  it  is 

3  Orlando,  "Primo  Trattato  Complete  di  Diritto  Amministrativo  Itali- 
ano,"  Vol.  VIII,  passim. 

*  Conference  for  Charities  and  Correction,  1898,  Report  on  Municipal 
and  County  Charities,  p.  108.  The  appendix  contains  reports  from  many 
of  the  cities  of  the  United  States  having  a  population  of  more  than  40,000 
in  1890. 


330  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

seldom  the  case  that  the  city  has  any  functions  to  discharge  rela- 
tive to  the  poor.  This  rule  is  of  course  subject  to  exceptions, 
particularly  so  far  as  concerns  the  cities  in  the  middle  and  west- 
ern states.  Thus  Buffalo,  Rochester,  Jersey  City  and  Reading, 
Pennsylvania,  all  cities  in  the  middle  states,  have  no  functions  to 
discharge  relative  to  poor  relief,  the  matter  being  a  subject  of 
county  administrations,  while  New  Orleans,  Louisville,  Rich- 
mond and  Charleston,  all  cities  in  the  southern  states,  include 
poor  relief  within  their  municipal  activity. 

The  larger  the  cities  are,  the  more  they  make  poor  relief  a 
municipal  function.  Thus  eight  of  the  ten  largest  cities,  namely, 
New  York,  Philadelphia,  St.  Louis,  Boston,  Baltimore,  San 
Francisco,  Cincinnati  and  Cleveland,  manage  their  own  poor. 
Of  the  ten  second  largest  cities,  however,  only  five,  namely, 
New  Orleans,  Pittsburg,  "Washington,  Newark  and  Louisville, 
have  any  important  functions  relative  to  poor  relief,  while 
in  the  remaining  five,  namely,  Detroit,  Milwaukee,  Jersey  City 
and  Kansas  City,  Missouri,  and  Minneapolis,  which  has  no 
almshouse  but  supports  a  hospital,  poor  relief  is  attended  to 
by  the  county  in  which  the  city  is  situated. 

Organization  of  City  Poor  Authority.  The  methods  adopted 
for  organizing  the  municipal  poor  authority  vary  greatly.  In 
some  cities  there  is  a  board,  in  others,  a  single  commissioner. 
In  a  number  of  cities  where  there  are  boards  the  members  are 
paid,  in  others  they  are  unpaid.  As  a  general  thing  where  the 
board  is  large,  its  members  are  unpaid,  but  where  the  board 
is  small,  e.  g.,  composed  of  three  members,  these  members  are 
paid.  The  size  of  the  city  seems  to  have  very  little  influence 
upon  the  organization  of  the  poor  authority.  Thus  in  New 
York,  Cincinnati,  Cleveland,  New  Orleans,  Pittsburg  and  Wash- 
ington, and  in  the  counties  in  which  Buffalo  and  Milwaukee  are 
situated,  there  is  a  single  paid  commissioner.  On  the  other 
hand,  in  St.  Louis,  Boston,  Baltimore,  San  Francisco,  Newark, 
Minneapolis,  and  the  county  in  which  Detroit  is  situated,  there 
is  an  unpaid  board.  Neither  does  the  geographical  location  of 
the  cities  seem  to  have  much  influence  on  the  organization  of  the 
poor  authority,  as  the  list  of  the  cities  whose  names  have  been 
given  shows.  It  may,  however,  be  said  that  in  general  the  cities 


CHARITIES  AND  CORRECTION  331 

of  New  England  have  adopted  the  idea  of  an  unpaid  board, 
while  the  cities  of  the  southern  states  have  adopted  the  idea  of 
paid  service.  The  only  city  in  the  south  relying  on  unpaid 
service  is  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  The  cities  in  the  middle 
states  tend  towards  the  unpaid  board,  while  the  cities  of  the 
west,  like  those  of  the  south,  tend  towards  salaried  service. 
There  are,  however,  many  exceptions  to  this  statement. 

The  methods  of  appointment  also  vary  greatly.  The  two 
most  common  are  appointment  by  the  mayor  or  election  by  the 
city  council  with  the  majority  slightly  in  favor  of  the  mayor, 
which  is  the  rule  in  the  larger  cities.  In  quite  a  number  of 
cities  the  poor  officers  are  elected  by  the  people  of  the  city. 
There  are,  however,  almost  no  cities  of  any  size  which  have 
adopted  this  method.  In  a  few  cases,  as  for  example,  St.  Paul, 
Scranton  and  Memphis,  the  poor  officers  are  appointed  by  the 
judges  of  some  court,  while  in  the  city  of  San  Francisco  they 
were,  until  recently,  appointed  by  the  governor  of  the  state. 

The  lack  of  uniformity  on  the  part  of  different  cities  with  re- 
gard both  to  the  character  of  the  poor  authority  and  to  the 
methods  of  filling  the  office  would  seem  to  indicate  that  no 
method  as  yet  devised  has  been  satisfactory.  Indeed,  the  papers 
read  at  the  various  conferences  of  charities  and  correction  are 
full  of  complaints  as  to  the  pernicious  influence  of  politics  upon 
the  charities  administration.  But  the  later  papers  bear  evi- 
dence of  an  improvement  in  conditions.  This  improvement  ap- 
pears to  have  been  as  great  under  one  form  of  organization  as 
another.  The  general  opinion  of  those  interested  in  and  ac- 
quainted with  the  administration  of  city  charities  in  the  United 
States  seems  to  favor  a  single  paid  commissioner.  An  excep- 
tion might  perhaps  be  made  in  the  case  of  hospitals,  which 
are  sometimes  managed  by  an  unpaid  board.  This  is  the  method 
adopted  in  Boston,  Cincinnati  and  New  York.  The  work  of 
the  public  officials  is  often  supplemented  by  private  charitable 
associations,  which  provide  a  corps  of  friendly  visitors,  who  act 
in  harmony  with  the  public  authorities  but  have  no  official  con- 
nection with  the  public  system  of  poor  relief.  This  is  similar 
to  the  practice  in  some  of  the  German  cities. 

Nature  of  Poor  Relief.    The  extent  of  the  work  done  by  the 


332  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

cities  for  the  poor  varies.  In  many  of  the  cities  of  the  south 
and  west,  where  the  legal  burden  of  supporting  the  poor  is  im- 
posed upon  the  county,  the  city  merely  supplements  the  work  of 
the  county  by  distributing  out-door  relief.  In  other  cities,  in  ad- 
dition to  giving  out-door  relief  the  city  government  supports  as 
well  a  hospital.  Finally,  in  a  very  few  cities,  no  out-door  relief 
whatever  is  given ;  or  out-door  relief  is  confined  to  the  distribu- 
tion of  coal.  Such  is  the  case,  e.  g.,  in  New  York,  St.  Louis, 
Baltimore,  San  Francisco,  New  Orleans,  Louisville,  Kansas  City, 
Denver,  Atlanta,  Memphis,  Charleston  and  Savannah.  In  a 
paper  read  at  the  conference  of  charities  and  correction  of  1900 
the  statement  is  made  that  of  the  forty  largest  cities  of  the 
country  only  ten  do  not  give  out-door  relief.5  The  greatest 
amount  of  out-door  relief  given  by  any  city  in  one  year  is  about 
$140,000,  which  is  the  amount  distributed  in  Chicago,  Detroit 
and  Boston. 

Many  of  the  cities,  of  which  New  York  is  the  most  marked  ex- 
ample, supplement  the  work  done  by  the  city  through  its  own 
officers  by  grants  of  money  to  private  institutions.  In  New 
York  this  grant  has  in  recent  years  amounted  to  nearly  $2,000,- 
000,  almost  all  of  which  is  appropriated  to  the  use  of  institutions 
established  for  the  support  of  dependent  children.  Two  of  the 
cities  of  the  United  States,  viz.,  Atlanta  and  Savannah,  rely  en- 
tirely upon  this  method  of  relieving  the  poor.  This  method  of 
supporting  the  poor  is  liable  to  great  abuse,  both  from  the  point 
of  view  of  the  city's  finances  and  from  the  point  of  view  of  en- 
lightened charity.6 

Finally,  in  addition  to  maintaining  almshouses  and  hospitals 
and  giving  out-door  relief  and  grants  in  aid  of  private  charita- 
ble institutions,  a  very  few  cities,  among  which  may  be  men- 
tioned New  York  and  the  three  Massachusetts  cities  of  Boston, 
Lowell  and  Springfield,  maintain  municipal  lodging  houses. 

State  Control.  The  administration  of  public  charities  in  the 
urban  as  well  as  in  the  rural  districts  has  been  within  the  last 
forty  years  in  many  of  the  states  of  the  United  States  subjected 
to  a  central  administrative  control  which  is  exercised  by  a  state 

6  Conference  of  Charities  and  Correction,  1900,  p.  182. 
8  Coler,  "Municipal  Government,"  Chap.  II. 


CHARITIES  AND  CORRECTION  333 

board  of  charities.  The  first  state  board  was  established  in 
Massachusetts  in  the  year  1863.  This  board  originally  had  the 
supervision  of  both  charities  and  correction,  but  by  subsequent 
legislation  its  jurisdiction  was  confined  to  institutions  granting 
poor  relief  only,  and  the  supervision  of  correctional  institutions, 
as  well  as  lunatic  asylums,  was  given  to  another  board.  The 
example  of  Massachusetts  has  been  so  generally  followed  that 
at  present  there  are  authorities  of  analogous  character  in  forty- 
one  states.  In  one  group  of  states  the  board  had  supervision 
over  state  institutions  whether  administered  by  local  boards  of 
managers  or  by  a  single  state  board  of  control,  and  over  local 
charitable  and  correctional  institutions.  "When  there  is  such 
a  supervisory  board  with  each  institution  managed  by  a  local 
board  we  have  the  so-called  ' '  Indiana  type ' '  of  organization.  In 
a  second  group  of  states,  having  what  is  known  as  the  "Iowa 
type"  of  organization,  the  state  board  has  direct  administration 
of  the  state  institutions  and  supervision  of  the  local  authorities. 

The  organization  of  the  boards  of  the  Indiana  type  is  gener- 
ally as  follows:  they  are  composed  of  a  number  of  members 
chosen  from  different  parts  of  the  state,  who  receive  no  pay, 
serve  for  long  terms  which  are  so  arranged  that  the  terms  of 
office  of  only  a  number  of  the  members  of  the  board  expire  at 
the  same  time,  and  have  very  commonly  under  them  a  salaried 
secretary  who  attends  to  the  detailed  work.  Where  the  system 
has  been  the  most  highly  organized,  as,  for  example,  in  New 
York,  the  state  board  has  under  it  also  a  corps  of  salaried  in- 
spectors whose  duty  it  is  to  investigate  the  conditions  of  the 
institutions  which  are  subjected  to  the  supervision  of  the  board. 
In  other  cases,  that  is  in  those  states  where  the  system  has  not 
received  a  high  development,  the  work  of  inspection  is  done  by 
members  of  the  board  themselves.7 

7  The  more  detailed  duties  of  these  boards  are  set  forth  in  an  article 
by  Levi  I.  Barbour,  entitled  "The  Value  of  State  Boards,"  contained  in 
the  Conference  of  Charities  and  Correction,  of  1894,  on  page  9.  On  page 
13  Mr.  Barbour  sets  forth  the  duties  of  these  boards  as  follows:  "First, 
inspection  and  report  upon  all  state  charitable  and  penal  institutions,  all 
county  or  district  jails  and  city  lock-ups  and  all  poor-houses.  The  reports 
include  a  full  census  of  inmates,  their  physical,  moral  and  social  condi- 
tions, their  duties  and  the  discipline  maintained  and  a  financial  statement 


334  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

The  work  of  boards  of  this  type  is  first  of  all  educational,  though 
in  the  states  which  have  the  work  more  highly  developed  the 
supervisory  function  is  very  important  and  effective.  Under 
the  Iowa  type  of  organization  the  board  is  composed  of  a  small 
number,  usually  three,  who  devote  their  whole  time  to  the  work 
and  are  paid  accordingly.  The  attention  of  boards  of  this  type 
seems  to  be  directed  more  especially  to  the  business  aspects  of 
institutional  management  and  less  toward  the  supervision  of 
local  authorities,  the  study  of  the  sociological  questions  involved 
and  the  education  of  the  public. 

of  costs  and  expenses,  to  be  used  for  comparison  with  those  of  other 
institutions.  These  inspections  are  made  frequently  and  at  unexpected 
times,  so  that  an  every-day  condition  of  things  may  be  known.  Those  in 
charge  of  institutions  never  have  and  never  will  report  their  own  faults 
and  failures.  They  seldom  report  any  untoward  influences  that  magnify 
the  evils  they  are  called  upon  to  amend  unless  there  is  supervision  and 
liability  to  criticism.  This  does  not  come  so  much  from  wicked  inten- 
tions as  from  carelessness. 

"Second,  the  tabulated  and  condensed  results  of  inspections  and  reports 
should  be  presented  to  the  governor,  to  the  legislature  when  in  session, 
and  to  the  public  especially,  with  such  advice  regarding  the  correction 
of  evils  and  the  extension  and  direction  of  the  work  as  the  board  may  be 
able  to  give.  These  reports  should  be  full  and  fair,  praising  the  work 
when  found,  but  without  whitewash  when  corruption  or  incompetency  are 
encountered.  The  public  press  if  properly  appealed  to  and  wisely  used 
may  be  made  a  great  assistance.  It  is  through  it  to  a  great  extent  that 
the  public  at  large  becomes  interested  and  may  be  reformed. 

"Third,  to  such  boards  are  frequently  submitted  the  location  of  state 
charitable  and  penal  institutions  and  the  plans  and  estimates  of  buildings; 
but  they  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  expenditure  of  the  money,  their 
duties  being  advisory  and  not  executive.  As  a  board  is  constantly  travers- 
ing the  state  and  frequently  other  states,  visiting  and  examining  the 
location,  the  safety  and  the  healthfulness  of  like  buildings  and  the  man- 
agement generally  of  such  institutions  their  advice  is  of  great  use  to  a 
local  board. 

"Fourth,  the  annual  estimates  and  demands  of  every  nature  of  all  state 
institutions,  penal  and  charitable,  are  submitted  to  them  for  their  advice 
and  recommendation,  before  presentation  to  the  governor  and  legislature. 

"Fifth,  in  some  states  they  are  authorized  to  convene  annually  for  con- 
sultation with  the  superintendents  of  the  poor  and  the  county  agents  for 
the  care  of  children." 


CHAPTER  XIII 

EDUCATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION 

References: 

Munro,  W.  B.,  "Principles  and  Methods  of  Municipal  Administration," 
Chap.  IX.  Beard,  C.  A.,  "American  City  Government,"  Chap.  XII.  Wil- 
cox,  D.  F.,  "The  American  City,"  Chap.  IV.  James,  H.  G.,  "Municipal 
Functions,"  Chap.  IV.  Fairlie,  J.  A.,  "Municipal  Administration,"  Chap. 
X.  Zueblin,  C.,  "American  Municipal  Progress,"  Chaps.  X-XIII.  Frei- 
burg, A.  J.,  Association  of  Harvard  Clubs,  Report  on  School  Administra- 
tion, Proceedings  of  the  National  Municipal  League,  1909,  pp.  354-365. 
Cubberley,  E.  P.,  "Public  School  Administration,"  Chaps.  VI-XIII. 

Early  Methods.  The  conditions  of  the  municipal  administra- 
tion of  schools  can  hardly  be  understood  without  a  slight  knowl- 
edge at  any  rate  of  the  general  history  of  education.  In  the 
middle  ages  the  matter  of  education  was  in  most  European  coun- 
tries left  to  the  Church.  Neither  the  cities  nor  the  state  govern- 
ments had  originally  any  functions  to  discharge  with  regard  to  it. 
In  the  cities  there  were  frequently  schools  closely  connected  with 
the  various  churches  in  which  was  given  religious  instruction  as 
well  as  instruction  in  reading  and  writing.  The  instruction  was 
not  obligatory  and  tuition  fees  were  demanded.  This  arrange- 
ment of  the  schools  was  not,  however,  satisfactory.  As  early  as 
the  thirteenth  century  the  cities  in  Germany  began  to  take  upon 
themselves  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of  schools.  But 
on  account  of  the  fear  which  the  ecclesiastical  authorities  had  that 
improper  instruction  would  be  given,  the  schools  maintained  by 
the  municipalities  were  under  the  supervision  of  the  Church, 
whose  authorities  practically  had  in  their  hands  the  appointment 
of  teachers.  In  the  sixteenth  century,  largely  as  a  result  of  the 
influence  of  Martin  Luther,  the  state  as  a  whole  also  began  to  in- 
terest itself  in  the  matter  of  education.  The  religious  troubles 
which  culminated  in  the  Eeformation  brought  it  about  that  the 
schools  which  were  established  by  the  governments  of  the  various 

335 


336  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

German  states  were  made  use  of  to  further  the  belief  which  it 
was  recognized  that  the  Prince  of  the  country  might  impose  upon 
his  subjects,  and  the  schools  were  therefore  little  more  than,  as 
the  expression  was,  nurseries  of  religious  instruction.  After  the 
Peace  of  Westphalia  in  1648  the  principle  was  introduced  of  ac- 
cording to  the  different  religious  confessions  which  received  pub-- 
lie  recognition  the  right  to  form  confessional  sectarian  schools. 
While  the  schools  may  no  longer  be  regarded  as  nurseries  of  the 
church,  at  the  same  time  the  later  legislation  of  most  of  the 
German  states  recognizes  that  the  common  school  is  as  a  rule 
formed  for  the  children  of  a  single  religious  confession,  and  on 
that  account  teachers  who  profess  the  creed  of  that  confession  are 
alone  eligible  to  appointment  in  the  schools. 

Education  in  England.  Similar  conditions  existed  in  other 
parts  of  Europe.  Thus  in  England  even  as  late  as  the  beginning 
of  the  nineteenth  century  the  government  did  nothing  what- 
ever either  in  its  central  or  its  local  organization  with  regard 
to  education.  What  schools  there  were  were  purely  private 
schools  and  supported  in  large  measure  by  the  various  religious 
denominations.  The  jealousy  which  existed  between  the  estab- 
lished Church  and  the  dissenting  religious  bodies  made  it  im- 
possible for  the  government  to  do  much  with  regard  to  schools 
until  late  in  the  nineteenth  century.  There  were  formed,  how- 
ever, both  in  the  established  Church  and  among  the  dissenting 
bodies,  large  school  societies  with  resources  coming  almost  en- 
tirely from  private  subscription,  which  set  to  work  early  in  the 
century  to  provide  schools  in  the  various  districts  throughout 
England.  These  schools,  however,  were  of  a  decidedly  sectarian 
character.  About  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century  the 
central  government  adopted  the  policy  of  making  appropria- 
tions to  aid  schools,  which  were  granted  upon  the  condition  that 
the  schools  which  received  aid  should  fulfill  certain  requirements. 
This  policy  was  continued  for  about  a  third  of  a  century,  the 
requirements  becoming  more  and  more  severe,  and  consisting 
as  a  general  thing  in  the  passage  of  certain  examinations  by  the 
scholars  in  the  various  schools.  The  grants  also  were  condi- 
tioned upon  the  fact  that  the  teachers  in  the  various  schools  had 
certain  certificates.  In  1870,  however,  an  act  was  passed  pro- 


EDUCATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION  337 

viding  for  public  action  upon  the  part  of  the  various  localities 
in  the  kingdom.  The  Act  of  1870  provided  that  every  mu- 
nicipal borough  should  constitute  a  school  district.  Provision 
was  made  for  the  election  of  a  board  in  each  school  district 
where  it  was  believed  that  there  were  not  sufficient  school  ac- 
commodations for  the  children.  This  fact  was  to  be  determined 
largely  by  the  new  education  department,  which  was  a  com- 
mittee of  the  Privy  Council.  "Where  it  was  determined  that 
there  were  not  sufficient  accommodations  the  school  board,  which 
was  elected  by  a  system  of  cumulative  voting,  in  order  to  pro- 
vide representation  for  ecclesiastical  minorities,  was  authorized 
to  build  school  houses  and  establish  schools,  which  came  to  be 
known  as  board  schools,  as  distinguished  from  the  semi-private 
schools  which  had  theretofore  been  established.  Such  school 
boards  had  the  right  to  determine  the  amount  of  money  to  be 
spent  upon  the  schools  and  the  municipal  council  of  the  borough 
was  then  required  to  insert  a  sufficient  amount  in  the  borough 
rate  which  they  were  authorized  to  levy,  to  provide  the  money 
which  the  school  board  had  declared  to  be  necessary.  These 
school  boards,  however,  were  treated  by  the  central  government 
in  exactly  the  same  way  as  were  the  authorities  having  control 
of  the  semi-private  schools  to  which  reference  has  been  made. 
That  is,  the  central  government  gave  them  grants  in  aid  provided 
that  they  satisfied  the  requirements  contained  in  the  regulations 
of  the  central  supervisory  department.  In  order  that  the  central 
government  might  satisfy  itself  that  the  requirements  which  it 
laid  down  were  complied  with,  it  provided  a  set  of  inspectors  ap- 
pointed by  it,  who  went  about  the  country  inspecting  and  report- 
ing upon  the  schools  subject  to  their  jurisdiction. 

The  result  of  this  legislation  then  was  that  up  to  the  begin- 
ning of  the  present  century  in  the  various  municipalities  of 
England  there  were  either  semi-public  schools  supported  largely 
by  private  contributions  or  board  schools  supported  by  local 
rates.  "With  the  management  of  these  schools,  however,  the 
municipal  government  had,  until  1902,  nothing  to  do.  The  only 
case  in  which  a  borough  council  had  any  functions  whatever  to 
discharge  with  regard  to  the  schools  was  in  municipal  boroughs 
where  there  were  no  board  schools,  and  where  there  were  as 


338  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

a  result  no  local  school  boards.  In  such  case  the  borough  coun- 
cil was  to  provide  a  committee,  which  was  known  as  the  school 
attendance  committee,  whose  duty  it  was  to  see  that  the  com- 
pulsory education  law  was  carried  out.  Where  there  were  board 
schools  this  duty  was  attended  to  by  the  school  boards,  which  had, 
subject  to  the  supervisory  control  exercised  by  the  educational 
department  of  the  Privy  Council,  absolute  control  of  the  school 
system,  and  appointed  all  the  teachers.  In  order,  however,  to 
receive  the  aid  given  by  the  central  government  they  must  ap- 
point only  those  teachers  who  were  regarded  by  the  central  gov- 
ernment as  properly  qualified.  As  a  general  thing  qualification 
was  shown  either  by  a  course  of  instruction  in  the  normal  school 
provided  by  the  central  government  or  by  an  examination. 

Education  Act  of  1902.  The  whole  system  of  city  schools 
in  England  was  changed  by  the  Education  Act  passed  in  1902. 
By  the  provisions  of  this  act  the  council  of  every  borough 
with  a  population  of  over  10,000  inhabitants  is  made  the  local 
educational  authority.  It  has  power,  as  such  local  educational 
authority,  to  administer  the  affairs  of  the  elementary  schools  and 
to  perform  such  functions  with  regard  to  other  educational  in- 
stitutions as  it  deems  proper.  It  may  even  provide  for  city  col- 
leges. In  order  to  permit  it  to  discharge  these  functions  it  may 
borrow  money  within  certain  limits,  fixed  by  the  Education  Act 
of  1902  and  the  Local  Government  Act  of  1888,  and  may  impose 
local  taxation. 

The  borough  council,  as  the  local  educational  authority,  is  to 
establish  an  education  committee  in  accordance  with  a  scheme 
to  be  made  by  it  and  approved  by  the  central  board  of  education. 
This  committee  shall  be  constituted,  as  to  at  least  a  majority  of 
its  members,  of  members  of  the  council,  and  of  other  members  ap- 
pointed on  the  nomination  of  other  bodies,  who  shall  be  persons  of 
experience  in  education  and  acquainted  with  the  needs  of  the 
various  kinds  of  schools  in  the  borough.  Provision  shall  be 
made  for  the  inclusion  of  women  as  well  as  men  among  the 
members  of  the  committee. 

To  this  committee  the  council  shall  refer  all  matters  relating 
to  the  schools  except  the  power  of  raising  local  taxes  and 
borrowing  money,  and  before  exercising  any  powers  relative  to 


EDUCATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION  339 

education,  shall,  unless,  in  their  opinion,  the  matter  is  urgent, 
receive  and  consider  the  report  of  the  education  committee  with 
respect  to  the  matter  in  question.  In  addition  to  the  reference 
of  all  matters  to  the  education  committee,  the  act  permits  the 
council  to  delegate  to  such  committee,  with  or  without  any  re- 
strictions or  conditions,  as  they  see  fit,  any  of  their  educational 
powers  except  those  affecting  school  finances. 

For  each  of  the  schools  provided  or  maintained  by  the  munici- 
pal educational  authority  there  is  a  board  of  managers,  consisting 
of  such  number  of  managers  as  the  council  shall  determine.  In 
the  case,  however,  of  public  elementary  schools,  not  provided  by 
the  local  educational  authority,  but  maintained  partly  from  the 
receipts  from  private  foundations  and  partly  from  government 
subventions,  there  shall  be  a  body  of  managers  consisting  of  a 
board  of  foundation  managers,  who  shall  be  elected  in  the  man- 
ner provided  by  the  deed  of  trust  of  such  school,  in  case  such 
deed  of  trust  is  not  modified  by  the  central  board  of  education, 
together  with  a  number  of  managers,  not  exceeding  two,  ap- 
pointed by  the  borough  council. 

The  borough  council  shall  have  the  right  to  adopt  regulations 
with  regard  to  the  management  of  the  schools  provided  or  main- 
tained by  them,  including  directions  with  respect  to  the  number 
and  qualifications  of  the  teachers  to  be  employed,  and  for  the  dis- 
missal of  such  teachers,  and  if  the  managers  of  any  particular 
school  shall  fail  to  carry  out  any  such  directions  the  borough 
council  shall,  in  addition  to  its  other  powers,  have  the  power 
themselves  to  carry  out  the  directions  in  question  as  if  it  were 
the  managers.  The  borough  council  shall  have  power  also  to 
inspect  all  schools.  Its  consent  shall  be  required  to  the  appoint- 
ment and  dismissal  of  teachers. 

The  Education  Act  of  1902  is  framed  with  the  intention  of 
maintaining  in  existence,  so  far  as  possible,  without  duplication 
on  the  part  of  the  city  authorities,  the  schools  which  have  been 
founded  and  carried  on  as  the  result  of  private  initiative.  At 
the  same  time,  inasmuch  as  such  schools  receive  large  grants  from 
the  government,  the  attempt  is  made  to  subject  them  much  more 
than  they  were  prior  to  the  passage  of  the  act,  to  the  control  of 
the  borough  council  and  its  educational  committee.  The  result 


340  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

is  a  great  complexity  in  the  system.  It  is  impossible  to  under- 
stand the  provisions  of  the  Education  Act  of  1902  without  study- 
ing the  history  of  the  school  system  during  pretty  nearly  the 
entire  nineteenth  century.  It  is  hoped,  however,  that  what  has 
been  said  will  be  sufficient  to  give  a  general  idea,  at  any  rate,  of 
the  relations  which  the  city  authorities  now  have  with  the  school 
system.  The  Act  of  1902  has  certainly  done  much  to  make  the 
care  of  the  schools  a  municipal  function.  It  has,  however,  ap- 
parently, in  no  way  done  away  with  central  supervision,  which 
is  directed  mainly  towards  securing  certificated  teachers  and  a 
reasonable  uniformity  of  methods  of  instruction.  The  means  by 
which  the  central  control  is  exercised  are  mainly  the  grant  of 
funds  by  the  central  government  to  schools,  both  those  provided 
by  the  city  authorities  and  those  provided  by  private  initiative. 
By  subsequent  legislation  the  power  of  local  authorities  has 
been  made  more  broad  so  as  to  include  medical  instruction  in 
schools,  the  establishment  of  vacation  and  recreation  centers, 
provision  for  physical  education  as  well  as  power  to  regulate 
juvenile  employment.1  More  recently  the  power  to  raise  the  age 
of  compulsory  school  attendance  from  fourteen  to  fifteen  years 
was  vested  in  local  authorities,  as  well  as  provision  for  part- 
time  and  continuation  schools.2 

Educational  Administration  in  France.  In  France,  as  in  Eng- 
land, education  did  not  become  an  object  of  solicitude  on  the 
part  of  the  government  until  the  nineteenth  century.  In  the 
middle  of  that  century,  however,  the  French  law  permitted  all 
communes  to  provide  for  institutions  of  secondary  instruction 
and  in  the  year  1882  the  state  took  the  matter  of  primary  edu- 
cation in  hand.  The  whole  educational  administration  in 
France  is,  however,  regarded  more  than  elsewhere  as  a  matter 
of  general  state  concern.  The  only  functions  which  the  mu- 
nicipalities discharge  with  regard  to  it  are  the  provision  of 
the  necessary  school  buildings,  which  is  imposed  upon  .them  as 
a  duty;  the  provision  of  a  school  commission,  which  is  largely 
composed  of  members  of  the  municipal  council  and  whose  duty 

1  7  Edw.  VII,  c.  43. 

2  10  Edw.  VII,  c.  37. 


EDUCATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION  341 

it  is  to  see  that  all  children  within  the  municipality  receive  the 
instruction  made  necessary  by  law;  and  in  the  third  place  the 
provision  of  high  schools  for  boys.  It  is  said  that  these  com- 
missioners very  seldom  do  any  work.  This  is  not,  however, 
a  duty  which  is  imposed  upon  the  city  by  the  law.  In  case 
cities  make  provision  for  institutions  of  secondary  instruction 
they  receive  the  revenues  which  come  from  the  school  tuition 
fees  and  disburse  the  necessary  expenses. 

In  all  cases,  in  the  lower  schools  and  the  higher  schools,  the 
control  of  the  physical  as  well  as  of  the  educational  administra- 
tion of  the  school  is  vested  in  officers  of  the  state  government. 
A  very  elaborate  system  of  school  administration  has  been  pro- 
vided by  the  state  beginning  with  the  department  of  public 
instruction.  At  its  head  is  a  minister  who  is  a  member  of  the 
cabinet,  with  several  councils  by  his  side,  and  included  among 
his  subordinates  are  the  prefect,  a  departmental  school  board, 
a  rector,  as  he  is  called,  of  the  academy,  and  an  academic 
council.  As  a  general  thing  the  supervision  and  in  large  part 
the  direct  management  of  the  lower  schools  are  vested  in  the 
prefect,  who  has,  among  other  duties,  the  power  of  appointing 
all  the  teachers  in  the  lower  schools.  The  supervision  of  second- 
ary schools  is  in  the  hands  of  the  rector  and  the  academic  council. 
The  result  is  that  the  duties  of  the  municipalities  with  regard 
to  schools  are  practically  of  little  account,  the  matter  being,  as 
has  been  said,  assumed  by  the  state  administration. 

School  Administration  in  Italy.  In  Italy  conditions  are  some- 
what the  same  as  in  France.  The  whole  matter  of  education 
is  regarded  as  a  state  rather  than  a  local  matter.  But  in  the 
case  of  the  elementary  schools,  which  cities  are  obliged  to 
maintain,  the  city  governments  have  slightly  greater  powers  than 
are  possessed  by  those  of  France.  The  law  makes  it  obligatory 
upon  the  city  council  to  establish  a  school  board.  This  is  com- 
posed of  the  mayor  or  assessor  assigned  to  the  schools,  who 
presides,  the  health  officer,  and  one  or  more  persons  chosen  by 
the  city  council  from  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  city,  women 
being  eligible.  This  body  has  rather  indefinite  powers,  being 
a  supervisory  and  advisory  rather  than  an  administrative  body. 


342  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

School  Administration  in  Germany.  In  Germany  the  intro- 
duction of  the  principle  of  compulsory  education,  which  it  may 
be  mentioned  has  been  adopted  everywhere,  made  it  necessary 
to  adopt  also  the  rule  that  no  one  should  be  denied  entrance 
to  a  public  school  on  account  of  his  religious  belief.  The  diffi- 
culties arising  from  the  presence  of  sectarian  schools  resulted 
also  in  some  states  in  the  attempt  to  form  unsectarian  schools 
to  which  teachers  without  reference  to  their  creed  might  be 
appointed,  and  where  religious  instruction  might  be  given  by 
all  denominations  at  a  time  which  was  different  from  that  in 
which  the  regular  instruction  was  given.  In  most  states,  how- 
ever, it  is  said  that  even  at  the  present  time  the  system  of  con- 
fessional or  sectarian  schools  is  still  maintained. 

The  introduction  of  the  principle  of  compulsory  education 
made  it  necessary  also  that  the  state  should  make  some  provision 
for  schools  in  which  the  children  of  the  poor  might  be  educated. 
In  the  south  of  Germany  as  a  general  thing  this  duty  of  provid- 
ing the  necessary  schools  was  imposed  upon  the  various  local 
communities,  including  among  them  the  cities.  In  the  north  of 
Germany,  however,  and  in  Prussia  there  were  formed  special 
unions  or  corporations  for  this  purpose.  These  were  largely 
sectarian  in  character  and  consisted  of  all  those  persons  belong- 
ing to  a  given  denomination  living  within  the  school  district, 
who  were  obliged  to  pay  taxes  for  the  support  of  particular 
schools.  In  addition  to  the  money  derived  from  these  school 
taxes  the  children  who  came  to  the  schools  were  obliged  to  pay 
certain  school  fees,  while  finally,  the  state  was  to  grant  certain 
subsidies  in  aid  of  the  duties  thus  imposed  upon  the  school  cor- 
porations. In  a  number  of  the  provinces  of  Prussia,  however, 
the  burden  of  supporting  the  schools  is  by  provincial  by-law 
imposed  upon  the  cities  within  the  province.  As  a  result  of  this 
rule  and  as  a  result  of  the  voluntary  action  of  other  cities  it 
is  said  that  at  the  present  time  most  of  the  cities  of  Prussia 
have  taken  over  the  schools  as  a  branch  of  municipal  activity. 
At  the  same  time  prior  to  this  action  on  the  part  of  the  munic- 
ipalities, many  of  the  school  corporations  had  received  by  gift 
or  bequest  large  amounts  of  property;  as  a  result,  each  one  of 
the  schools  within  a  city  is  treated  somewhat  as  a  separate 


EDUCATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION  343 

organization  with  its  own .  resources.  Accounts  are  therefore 
to  be  kept  with  each  of  such  institutions. 

City  School  Authorities  in  Prussia.  Whatever  may  be  the 
conditions  of  the  schools  in  a  city  in  this  respect,  there  is  in  every 
city  a  school  board  having  some  control  over  all  the  schools  of 
the  city.  The  city  school  board  consists  of  two  government 
school  inspectors,  a  representative  appointed  by  the  central 
government  for  each  of  the  schools  which  is  not  under  munic- 
ipal patronage,  and  from  three  to  nine  elected  members.  One- 
third  of  the  elected  members  belong  to  the  city  executive  and 
one-third  to  the  council,  while  the  last  third  are  chosen  from 
among  the  citizens  of  the  city  who  are  believed  to  be  somewhat 
expert  in  school  matters.  The  members  of  the  city  executive 
and  of  the  council  are  chosen  in  the  same  way  as  are  the  mem- 
bers of  other  executive  departments,  but  need  the  approval  of 
the  central  government.  These  members  propose  to  the  central 
government  three  candidates  for  each  of  the  places  which  are 
filled  by  the  citizens  at  large,  and  from  the  three  thus  chosen 
the  government  appoints  one  as  a  member  of  the  school  board. 

This  school  board  supervises  the  private  schools  in  the  city  and 
administers  the  affairs  of  all  the  lower  public  schools.  So  far 
as  the  higher  public  schools  are  concerned,  this  board  has  charge 
merely  of  their  physical  administration.  The  educational  admin- 
istration of  the  higher  schools  is  entrusted  to  the  principals  of  the 
schools  who  are  subject  to  the  supervision  of  the  provincial  school 
board.  Within  the  limits  of  its  jurisdiction  the  city  school 
board  has  the  administration  of  school  property  and  the  regular 
execution  of  the  school  budget,  must  see  that  the  laws  and  ordi- 
nances of  the  state  are  followed,  keep  the  teachers  up  to  the  per- 
formance of  their  duties,  and  see  to  it  that  the  children  regularly 
attend  school.  The  members  of  the  board  are  expected  in  order 
to  perform  their  duties  to  visit  the  different  schools  at  regular 
intervals  and  every  year  to  present  to  the  city  council,  of  which 
they  are  regarded  to  be  merely  a  department,  a  detailed  report 
on  the  conditions  of  the  schools  within  the  cities.  This  report  is 
also  to  be  sent  to  the  government.  The  school  board  is  often 
assisted  in  the  performance  of  its  duties  by  local  volunteer  un- 
paid committees  each  of  which  devotes  attention  to  some  one 


344  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

school.  The  arrangement  resembles  the  arrangement  referred 
to  in  the  field  of  public  charities.3 

The  expenses  of  the  school  administration  are  defrayed  in  the 
first  place  from  the  income  from  the  school  property.  It  will 
be  remembered  that  in  many  cases  the  schools  have  their  own 
property.  In  the  second  place  the  cities  are  by  law  obliged  to 
take  upon  themselves  the  burden  of  the  support  of  the  lower 
schools  and  are  permitted  to  receive  the  income  from  the  schools, 
which,  however,  does  not  amount  to  much  at  the  present  time, 
inasmuch  as  very  generally  the  school  tuition  fees  have  been 
abolished.  In  the  third  place  the  state  government  grants  sub- 
sidies to  the  schools  largely  for  the  purpose  of  helping  them 
in  the  payment  of  the  teachers'  salaries. 

The  cities  are  obliged  to  build  the  school  buildings  and  pro- 
vide as  well  the  necessary  residences  for  teachers.  They  may  be 
obliged  by  the  state  supervisory  authorities  to  fulfil  their  duties 
in  this  respect,  but  if  there  is  any  conflict  between  the  super- 
visory authorities  and  the  cities,  the  cities  are  permitted  to  ap- 
peal to  the  administrative  courts  to  obtain  a  final  settlement 
of  the  matter. 

While  the  cities  are  thus  by  law  obliged  to  maintain  the  lower 
schools,  there  is  no  obligation  imposed  upon  them  with  regard  to 
the  higher  schools.  They  may,  however,  with  the  consent  of 
the  central  school  authorities  of  the  state,  that  is  the  department 
of  public  instruction,  establish  higher  schools  which  are  known 
as  advanced  schools  (fortbildingschule),  and  gymnasia,  or  real- 
schule.  There  seem  to  be  three  kinds  of  higher  schools  in  the 
cities:  first,  those  which  have  been  established  as  a  result  of 
private  initiative  and  are  regarded  as  foundations;  second, 
schools  established  by  the  central  government,  and  third,  mu- 
nicipal schools.  The  permission  to  establish  such  schools  is 
granted  only  in  case  it  is  shown  to  the  state  department  of  public 
instruction  that  the  city  has  made  ample  provision  for  those 
schools  which  it  is  its  duty  to  support  and  that  the  city  is  pre- 
pared to  maintain  the  high  schools  in  a  condition  which  com- 
plies with  the  demands  of  the  central  authorities.  In  this  case 
the  rules  which  are  established  by  the  city  for  the  management 

3  Schriften  des  Vereins  fiir  Socialpolitik,  Vol.  CXXIII,  p.  217. 


EDUCATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION  345 

of  the  schools  and  the  school  budget  are  to  be  approved  by  the 
central  authority  and  the  school  when  it  is  thus  established  is 
regarded  as  a  juristic  person,  that  is,  it  is  a  corporation  which 
may  receive  gifts  and  legacies  from  private  persons. 

State  Supervision  of  Schools.  The  school  system,  it  will  thus 
be  seen,  is  a  combination  of  private  initiative  and  governmental, 
generally  municipal  governmental,  action.  But  whatever  may 
be  the  character  of  a  school,  that  is,  whether  from  the  point 
of  view  of  its  resources  it  is  governmental  or  private,  it  is  in  all 
cases  subject  to  state  supervision.  The  supervision  which  is 
exercised  thus  over  the  school  system  is  exercised  in  first  instance 
by  the  state  department  of  public  instruction,  that  is,  the  minis- 
try of  educational,  ecclesiastical  and  sanitary  affairs.  In  every 
one  of  the  provinces  into  which  Prussia  is  divided  there  is,  in 
the  second  place,  a  provincial  school  board  of  which  the  governor 
is  president.  This  body  has  the  supervision  over  the  higher 
schools  and  the  instruction  of  teachers.  Each  province  is  di- 
vided up  into  districts  at  the  head  of  which  is  a  board  known 
as  the  government,  whose  members  consist  of  persons  belonging 
to  the  higher  administrative  service,  are  professional  in  char- 
acter, pernxanent  in  tenure  and  are  appointed  by  the  Crown.  In 
each  one  of  these  boards  there  is  a  committee  whose  function 
is  the  supervision  of  the  conduct  of  the  schools.  As  a  general 
thing  this  committee  has  under  it  inspectors  for  each  one  of  the 
divisions  into  which  the  district  is  divided,  namely,  circles.  Inas- 
much as  each  city  of  over  25,000  inhabitants  is  exempted  from 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  ordinary  circle  and  forms  a  circle  by 
itself,  each  one  of  such  cities  has  such  a  circle  inspector.  In 
addition  to  the  circle  inspectors  there  are  also  local  inspectors 
corresponding  somewhat  to  city  or  county  superintendents  in 
the  United  States;  these  officers  are  appointed  by  the  central 
government,  and,  as  well  as  the  circle  inspectors,  are  members 
of  the  school  boards  in  the  various  cities.  Although  there  is  no 
law  requiring  the  central  government  to  make  the  appoint- 
ment of  these  inspectors  from  the  clergy,  as  a  general  thing 
such  officers  are  appointed  from  the  clergy,  who  thus  maintain 
in  practice  a  large  influence  over  the  management  of  the  schools. 

All  teachers  are  educated  in  the  normal  schools  and  receive 


346  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

there  both  a  theoretical  and  practical  instruction,  it  being  pro- 
vided that  they  shall  teach  in  what  may  be  called  experimental 
schools  before  they  receive  their  certificate.  This  certificate  is 
granted  after  an  examination  which  differs  in  accordance  with 
the  grade  that  the  individual  candidate  seeks  to  obtain. 

The  actual  appointment  to  a  position  in  a  school  is  as  a  general 
thing  made  by  the  local  municipal  authorities,  although  their 
action  needs  the  approval  of  the  central  state  government,  which 
in  the  case  of  principals  and  teachers  in  the  higher  schools  is 
granted  either  by  the  provincial  school  boards  or  by  the  Crown. 
The  salaries  are  fixed  by  the  general  government,  and  it  is  not 
permitted  to  the  localities  to  attend  to  this  matter.  The  same  is 
true  of  pensions  which  are  generally  granted  to  teachers  after  a 
certain  number  of  years  of  service,  and  also  to  their  widows  and 
children  in  case  of  their  death  in  the  school  service. 

School  Administration  in  the  United  States.  The  cities  of  the 
United  States  did  not  take  up  seriously  the  matter  of  public 
schools  until  about  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Since 
1850,  however,  it  may  be  said  that  in  almost  all  the  cities  of  the 
United  States  a  great  deal  of  money  has  been  expended  by  the 
city  governments  in  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of 
rather  elaborate  school  systems.  It  is  in  these  city  school  sys- 
tems that  have  been  worked  out  the  important  steps  in  educa- 
tional advancement  which  have  marked  the  last  half-century. 
"In  forms  of  organization,  administration,  supervision,  equip- 
ment, and  in  the  extension  of  educational  advantages,  it  has 
been  the  city  school  district  which  has  been  the  pioneer. ' '  * 

In  addition  to  maintaining  schools  for  the  education  of  chil- 
dren and,  in  a  number  of  cases,  of  illiterate  adults,  the  cities  of 
the  United  States  have  in  many  cases  established,  either  in  close 
connection  with  their  school  systems  or  separate  therefrom,  pub- 
lic libraries  and  museums.  In  some  cases,  further,  they  make 
provision  for  quite  elaborate  courses  of  public  lectures.  Finally, 
a  few  of  the  cities  support,  as  well,  institutions  of  higher  in- 
struction. Thus,  for  example,  the  City  of  New  York  maintains 
the  College  of  the  City  of  New  York,  an  institution  of  higher 

*  Cubberley,  "Public  School  Administration,"  p.  433. 


EDUCATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION  347 

instruction  for  boys,  while  Cincinnati,  Toledo  and  Akron,  in 
Ohio,  maintain  municipal  universities. 

School  Boards.  "Whatever  may  be  the  extent  of  the  work  of  the 
city  in  the  field  of  education,  the  school  authority,  which  in  all 
cases  has  charge  of  the  primary  and  secondary  schools  and  in 
some  cases  as  well  of  other  educational  institutions,  is  a  board 
of  education  or  a  school-board.  In  only  one  city  of  importance, 
namely,  Buffalo,  is  the  matter  in  the  charge  of  the  city  council. 
In  this  city  a  committee  of  the  council  performs  the  duties  which 
in  most  of  the  cities  of  the  United  States  are  attended  to  by  the 
school-board.  The  cities  of  the  United  States  in  which  there  is 
a  school-board  separate  and  apart  from  the  council,  may  be  put 
into  two  classes:  in  the  first  class  are  to  be  included  those  in 
which  the  school-board  is  regarded  as  a  department  of  the  city 
government;  in  the  second,  those  in  which  the  school-board  is 
treated  not  as  a  department  of  the  city  government,  but  as  a 
public  corporation  separate  and  apart  from  the  corporation  of 
the  city.  In  this  last  class  of  cities  the  board,  however  its  mem- 
bers may  be  appointed,  has  in  its  own  control  the  raising  of  the 
funds  which  are  necessary  to  carry  on  the  schools  under  its 
charge,  as  well  as  the  uncontrolled  expenditure  of  these  funds. 
This  is  the  position  of  the  city  school  authority  in  Cincinnati, 
Pittsburg,  Indianapolis,  Denver,  Toledo,  St.  Louis,  and  other 
cities.  Even  in  this  class  of  cities,  however,  the  collection  of 
the  taxes  which  have  been  voted  by  the  school-board  is  fre- 
quently a  function  of  the  city  government.  It  is  seldom,  if 
ever,  the  case  that  a  city  school-board,  no  matter  how  wide  its 
powers,  has  the  same  functions  which,  for  example,  the  school- 
district  has  in  the  State  of  New  York,  where  the  power  not  merely 
of  voting,  but  of  assessing  and  collecting  the  school  taxes  is  de- 
volved upon  the  school  trustees  and  their  subordinate  assessors 
and  collectors. 

In  the  cities  which  treat  the  school-board  as  a  department  of 
the  municipal  government,  the  functions  of  the  board  are  very 
nearly  the  same  as  the  functions  of  the  ordinary  head  of  depart- 
ment with  reference  to  his  department.  That  is,  the  school-board 
makes  up  its  estimate  of  the  amount  of  money  which  it  thinks  it 
will  require  in  order  to  carry  on  the  schools  for  the  coming  year, 


348  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

and  this  estimate  is  subject  to  revision  by  the  authority  of  the 
city  government  which  ultimately  determines  the  amount  of 
money  to  be  spent  by  the  city  departments.  This  is  the  position 
occupied  by  the  school-boards  in  Chicago,  Philadelphia,  San 
Francisco,  Milwaukee,  Newark,  Louisville,  Providence,  St.  Paul, 
and  other  cities. 

In  some  of  the  cities  peculiar  arrangements  have  been  made 
which  cause  the  school-board  to  approximate  more  closely  to  the 
type  to  which,  from  the  general  point  of  view,  it  does  not  belong. 
For  example,  in  the  city  of  New  York,  which,  as  a  general  thing, 
treats  the  board  of  education  as  a  department  of  the  city  govern- 
ment, a  statute  provides  that  a  certain  tax  must  be  levied,  by  the 
authorities  having  the  taxing  power,  for  the  support  of  the  teach- 
ing and  supervising  officers  of  the  schools,  whose  salaries  are 
fixed  by  state  law.  The  amount  of  money  which  may  be  spent 
on  this  branch  of  educational  activity  is  thus  taken  out  of  the 
hands  of  the  ordinary  municipal  authorities  and,  within  the 
limits  of  the  law,  vested  in  those  of  the  school-board,  although 
from  other  points  of  view  the  school-board  is  little  more  than  a 
department  of  the  city  administration. 

In  all  cases,  however,  it  will  be  noticed  that  the  school  author- 
ity is  a  board.  The  reason  for  this  universal  departure  from  the 
type  of  municipal  departmental  organization  generally  approved 
at  the  present  time  in  the  United  States  is  to  be  found  in  the 
desire  to  keep  the  schools  out  of  politics  and  interest  as  many 
persons  as  possible  in  their  management.  The  schools  are  be- 
lieved to  be  kept  out  of  politics  through  the  provision  that  the 
members  of  the  board  shall  not  hold  terms  which  expire  at  the 
same  time.  Every  year  or  two  years,  or  whatever  term  may  be 
determined  upon,  a  certain  number  of  the  members  of  the  board 
are  renewed.  It  will  thus  take  a  number  of  years  before  any 
one  political  party  can  obtain  control  of  the  school  administra- 
tion. 

The  position  which  has  been  assigned  to  the  school-board  has 
an  influence  upon  the  method  by  which  the  members  of  the  board 
are  selected.  If  the  school-board  belongs  to  that  type,  the  charac- 
teristic of  which  is  that  it  is  in  the  nature  of  a  special  corpora- 
tion separate  from  the  corporation  of  the  city,  the  members  of  the 


EDUCATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION  349 

school-board  are  in  almost  all  cases  elected  by  the  people.  Even 
in  the  case  where  the  school-board  is  treated  merely  as  a  depart- 
ment of  the  city  government,  the  principle  of  election  is  also  in 
some  cases  adopted.  At  the  present  time  a  considerable  number 
of  cities  in  the  United  States  choose  their  school-boards  by 
election.  In  those  cities  which  treat  their  school-boards  as  a 
department  of  the  city  government,  the  tendency,  however,  is 
toward  providing  that  the  members  of  the  board  shall  be  ap- 
pointed by  the  mayor  and  council  or  by  the  mayor  alone. 
While  election  by  the  people  and  appointment  by  the 
mayor,  either  with  or  without  the  approval  of  the  council, 
may  be  said  to  be  the  prevailing  methods  for  filling  the 
position  of  member  of  the  school-board,  in  some  of  the  most 
important  cities  of  the  United  States  a  departure  is  made  from 
these  methods.  Thus,  for  example,  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia 
the  school-board  is  composed  of  one  member  from  each  of  thirty- 
six  sections  into  which  the  city  is,  for  the  purpose  of  school  repre- 
sentation, divided,  and  these  thirty-six  members  are  appointed 
by  the  judges  of  the  state  court  of  common  pleas.  In  New 
Orleans  also  the  members  of  the  city  school-board  are  in  large 
part  appointed  by  the  governor  of  the  state. 

Where  the  school-boards  are  elected  they  are  elected  either 
by  general  or  by  district  ticket.  Of  the  fifty-five  cities  in  the 
United  States  electing  members  of  the  school-board,  twenty-four 
elect  from  the  city  at  large,  twenty-eight  from  the  district,  and 
three  by  a  combination  of  these  plans.  The  largest  cities  have 
generally  adopted  the  general  ticket.  This  is  the  case,  for  ex- 
ample, in  St.  Louis,  Boston,  Cleveland,  Minneapolis,  Kansas  City, 
and  other  less  important  cities.  In  some  cases  the  election  is 
held  at  the  same  time  as  the  general  state  election  or  the  munici- 
pal election,  if  that  is  separate  from  the  general  state  election, 
while  in  other  cities  the  election  takes  place  at  a  special  time  ap- 
pointed for  the  particular  purpose  of  school  elections.  In  a  num- 
ber of  the  cities  provision  is  made  for  local  boards  which  some- 
times, as  in  Philadelphia  and  Pittsburg,  have  very  large  powers, 
and  in  others,  have  merely  supervisory  and  consultative  powers. 

The  size  of  the  school-board  depends  upon  the  extent  to  which 
the  principle  of  interesting  as  many  persons  as  possible  in  the 


350  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

management  of  the  schools  has  been  applied.  This  would  ap- 
pear to  have  been  the  principle  whose  application  was  the  most 
desired  for  a  long  time  in  the  history  of  our  municipal  educa- 
tional administration.  "Within  recent  years,  however,  particu- 
larly in  the  larger  cities,  the  feeling  has  become  stronger  that 
what  is  needed  is  not  so  much  popular  interest  in  the  schools  as 
efficient  school  administration.  The  growth  of  the  belief  in  the 
necessity  of  efficient  school  administration  has  resulted  in  lessen- 
ing the  number  of  the  members  of  the  school-board.  The  number 
varies  widely  but  the  tendency  is  toward  a  small  board.  Thus 
quite  recently  the  San  Francisco  board  was  reduced  from  twelve 
to  four ;  that  of  Baltimore  from  twenty-nine  to  nine ;  that  of  St. 
Louis  from  twenty-one  to  twelve;  that  of  Indianapolis  from 
eleven  to  five ;  that  of  Milwaukee  from  thirty-six  to  twenty-one ; 
that  of  Atlanta  from  fourteen  to  seven,  and  that  of  New  York 
from  forty-six  to  seven.5  In  some  of  the  cities  where  the 
number  of  the  members  of  the  board  is  very  small,  salaries  are 
paid,  as  in  San  Francisco.  As  a  rule,  however,  service  as  a 
member  of  the  school-board  is  unpaid. 

School  Superintendents.  When  city  schools  were  originally 
established,  the  school-board  had  practically  complete  charge 
over  both  the  physical  and  educational  administration  of  the 
schools.  "Within  recent  years,  however,  there  has  been  a  tend- 
ency toward  a  differentiation  of  these  functions  with  the  result 
that  the  school-board  has,  in  the  cities  which  are  regarded  as 
having  the  best  school  systems,  been  confined  to  the  management 
of  the  physical  administration  of  the  schools.  The  educational 
administration  has  been  granted  to  a  professional  expert  force, 
at  the  head  of  which  is  placed  a  superintendent  of  schools  or 
similar  officer.  The  superintendent  of  schools  seems  to  have  de- 
veloped about  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Most  com- 
monly, particularly  in  the  larger  cities,  this  officer  is  appointed 
by  the  school-board ;  in  some  cases,  however,  he  is  elected  by  the 
people  of  the  city.  In  either  case  his  term  is  usually  a  fixed 
one,  varying  from  six  years,  as  in  New  York,  to  one  year,  as  in 
Philadelphia.  As  a  general  thing,  his  term  is  three  or  four 
years.  The  superintendent  usually  has  the  power  of  recommend- 

6  Laws  of  New  York,  1917,  c.  786. 


EDUCATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION  351 

ing  the  appointment  of  teachers  who  are  appointed  by  the  school- 
board.  Generally,  the  power  which  appoints  the  teachers  is  con- 
fined in  its  selection  to  those  persons  who  have  teachers'  certifi- 
cates. These  are  granted  only  after  an  examination  which  some- 
times, though  not  usually,  is  competitive. 

There  is  a  tendency  at  the  present  time — not,  however,  very 
marked  in  character — to  differentiate  the  administrative  from 
the  legislative  side  of  the  physical  administration  of  the  schools, 
and  to  confine  the  action  of  the  school-board  to  the  legislative 
part  of  the  work.  Such  a  differentiation  was  recommended  by 
the  committee  of  fifteen  appointed  by  the  National  Educational 
Association  for  the  drafting  of  a  model  municipal  educational 
system.  The  differentiation  of  the  administrative  from  the  legis- 
lative side  of  school  administration  is  the  theory  of  the  system 
adopted  in  Indianapolis.  In  this  city  there  is  a  school-director, 
who  is  elected  by  the  school-board,  and  has  charge  of  the  ad- 
ministrative side  of  the  physical  administration  of  the  schools. 
He  occupies  somewhat  the  same  relation  to  the  school  adminis- 
tration that  the  mayor,  under  the  ordinary  municipal  charter, 
occupies  with  reference  to  the  general  administrative  system 
of  the  city.  Thus  he  has  a  veto  over  the  acts  of  the  school- 
board  which  may  be  overcome  by  a  repassage  of  the  act  vetoed. 

Administrative  Tendencies.  While  the  differentiation  of  the 
legislative  from  the  administrative  side  of  the  physical  adminis- 
tration of  schools  has  not  received  any  very  wide  application  in 
the  United  States,  its  adoption  is  interesting  and  significant. 
When  taken  together  with  the  other  developments  in  school 
administration  it  cannot  fail  to  leave  the  impression  that  the 
school-board  is  succumbing  to  the  same  influences  that  destroyed 
the  city  council,  and  that  in  time  there  will  be  a  school  depart- 
ment with  a  single  commissioner  at  its  head,  having  toward  the 
school  department  about  the  same  powers  and  duties  that  the 
single  commissioner  or  other  executive  department  head  has 
toward  his  department.  Reduced  in  numbers,  in  some  cases 
composed  of  salaried  members,  its  educational  functions  lost  to 
the  superintendent,  its  executive  functions  going  to  a  director, 
the  school-board  will  not  have  enough  to  do  to  attract  men  who 
are  interested  in  the  schools  and  will  soon  come  to  occupy,  if 


352  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

the  movement  keeps  on  at  the  same  pace,  a  position  of  as  little 
influence  as  that  which  has  been  accorded  to  the  city  council  by 
the  charters  of  many  American  cities. 

Central  Control.  The  same  tendency  toward  the  subjection 
of  the  city  in  its  management  of  schools  to  the  control  of  the 
state,  is  evident,  as  is  seen,  in  the  relations  of  the  state  toward 
the  charitable  work  of  cities.  In  most  of  the  states  of  the  United 
States  there  is  an  officer  known  as  the  superintendent  of  public 
instruction,  or  superintendent  of  common  schools,  to  whom  is 
given  a  large  power  of  supervision  over  the  cities  in  their  dis- 
charge* of  their  school  duties.  In  a  number  of  states  there  is  not 
only  a  state  superintendent  of  education — there  is,  also,  a  state 
board  of  education,  which  has  certain  functions  of  supervision 
to  discharge.  The  powers  of  the  state  officers  over  the  local  man- 
agement of  schools  relate  to  compulsory  education,  the  state  reg- 
ulation of  text-books  and  courses  of  study,  and  state  control  of 
teachers '  examinations. 

The  methods  by  which  the  state  supervisory  educational  of- 
ficers exercise  their  control  over  the  local  management  of  schools 
are :  first,  the  power  to  withhold  the  aid  which  is  granted  by  the 
state  to  the  localities;  second,  the  power  to  hear  appeals  from 
the  decision  of  the  local  school  authorities,  and,  third,  the  power 
to  grant  or  withhold  high  school  accrediting  which  confers 
upon  the  graduates  of  such  schools  the  privilege  of  college 
entrance  without  examination  and  without  condition.  In  a  few 
states  the  state  superintendent  has  also  important  powers  of 
removing  local  school  officers,  and  of  obliging  delinquent  locali- 
ties to  take  the  action  which  is  necessary  in  order  that  the  schools 
may  be  properly  conducted. 

The  extent  of  the  powers  possessed  by  the  state  super- 
visory officials  and  the  means  by  which  they  may  exercise 
their  powers,  vary,  of  course,  very  much  from  state  to  state. 
Probably  in  no  state  would  the  supervisory  state  officers  have 
all  the  powers  to  which  reference  has  been  made.  The  state 
in  which  the  powers  of  the  superintendent  of  education,  or 
similar  officer,  are  greatest  is,  perhaps,  New  York.  Here  the 
commissioner  of  education  has  large  powers  of  removing  school 
officers,  of  hearing  appeals  from  the  decision  of  local  school 


EDUCATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION  353 

officers,  of  enforcing  a  uniform  course  of  study,  and  of  examining 
and  licensing  teachers. 

It  has  been  said  of  this  tendency  of  the  state  to  extend  its 
supervisory  authority  over  the  local  schools:  "The  prime  pur- 
pose of  the  State  in  legislating  on  all  such  matters  is  not  so 
much  to  impose  its  will  as  to  stimulate  the  cities  to  educational 
activity;  not  so  much  to  insist  upon  the  State's  methods  as  to 
insure  satisfactory  final  results.  Any  wise  constructive  state 
educational  policy  will  keep  these  problems  of  relationship 
clearly  in  mind,  and  will  observe,  whenever  possible,  a  definite 
line  of  demarkation  between  the  powers  and  rights  of  the  State 
and  the  privileges  and  options  of  communities. ' ' 6 

The  problems  arising  from  growing  central  administrative 
control  over  local  schools,  both  urban  and  rural,  are  in  general 
the  same  as  are  presented  by  like  control  in  other  fields  of  gov- 
ernment. With  respect  to  their  application  to  the  field  of  edu- 
cation, the  authority  quoted  above  has  said:  "To  preserve  the 
schools  from  the  deadening  rule  of  a  state  bureaucracy,  and  at 
the  same  time  to  protect  them  from  political  exploitation  or 
neglect;  to  leave  to  the  cities  as  large  liberty  in  the  selection  of 
tools  and  methods  as  is  consistent  with  the  securing  of  the  results 
desired  by  the  State;  to  see  that  local  school  systems  are  ade- 
quately financed,  instead  of  being  subordinated  to  the  pressing 
demands  of  other  city  departments;  and  to  keep  the  school  sys- 
tems of  the  city  school  districts  in  touch  with  community  needs 
and  expressive  of  community  wishes,  and  at  the  same  time  safe- 
guard them  from  politics; — these  are  the  principal  problems  in 
the  relation  of  the  State  to  the  city  school  districts  subordinate 
to  it. " 7  The  Federal  government  formerly  confined  its  activi- 
ties in  the  field  of  education  to  the  compilation  of  statistics  and 
the  gathering  and  dissemination  of  information.  Grants  in  aid 
had  been  extended  to  institutions  of  higher  learning  in  the  inter- 
ests of  agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts.  Through  recent  legis- 
lation the  policy  of  grants  in  aid  has  been  extended  to  the  lower 
schools  with  respect  to  agricultural  and  industrial  education.8 

eOubberley,  "Public  School  Administration,"  p.  64. 

1 1bid.,  p.  63. 

8  Laws  of  the  United  States,  64th  Cong.,  2nd  Session,  C.  114   (1917). 


354  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

A  measure  more  recently  before  Congress,  though  as  yet  not 
enacted  into  law,  would  create  a  full-fledged  Department  of  Edu- 
cation and  would  still  farther  extend  the  policy  of  grants  in  aid. 
By  this  measure  large  subsidies  would  be  devoted  both  to  general 
education  and  especially  to  the  problems  of  Americanization, 
illiteracy,  physical  and  vocational  education,  and  the  training  of 
teachers.  The  administration  of  such  a  policy,  though  carried 
out  through  the  medium  of  the  state  educational  authorities,  will 
inevitably  strengthen  materially  the  central  control  over  the  city 
school  systems. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

i 

LOCAL  IMPROVEMENTS 

References : 

Munro,  W.  B.,  "Principles  and  Methods  of  Municipal  Administration," 
Chaps.  II-VI.  James,  H.  G.,  "Municipal  Functions,"  Chaps.  VII-X. 
Fairlie,  J.  A.,  "Municipal  Administration,"  Chap.  IX.  Zueblin,  C.,  "Amer- 
ican Municipal  Progress,"  Chaps.  Ill,  IV,  VI,  XV,  XVI  and  XVII.  Howe, 
F.  C.,  "The  Modern  City  and  Its  Problems,"  Chaps.  XIII-XVI.  Baker, 
M.  N.,  "Municipal  Engineering  and  Sanitation,"  Chaps.  II,  IX,  X,  XVII, 
XVIII,  XXXVIII,  XXXIX.  Shurtleff,  F.,  "Carrying  Out  the  City  Plan," 
Chap.  IV.  King,  C.  L.,  "The  Regulation  of  Municipal  Utilities,"  Chaps. 
I,  II,  IV,  V,  VIII,  X,  XIV.  Whinnery,  S.,  "Municipal  Public  Works," 
Chap.  XV.  Eastman,  J.  B.,  The  Public  Utility  Commission  of  Massachu- 
setts, Proceedings  of  the  National  Municipal  League,  1908,  pp.  288-307. 
Osborne,  T.  M.,  The  New  York  Public  Service  Commission,  Proceedings  of 
the  National  Municipal  League,  1908,  pp.  269-287.  Report  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Franchises,  National  Municipal  League,  National  Municipal 
Review,  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  13-27. 

Character  and  Scope  of  Local  Improvements.  A  dominant  char- 
acteristic of  those  activities  which  may  be  spoken  of  under  the 
general  designation  of  "local  improvements"  is  that  they  are 
primarily  local  in  character,  though  they  may  under  certain 
circumstances  become  of  state-wide  interest.  Furthermore,  they 
are,  with  respect  not  merely  to  the  installation  and  maintenance 
of  their  physical  plant  but  to  their  daily  operations,  works  of 
engineering.  In  this  they  are  to  be  distinguished  from  the 
police,  educational  and  charitable  functions. 

Local  improvements  may  for  convenience  be  grouped  in  the 
two  categories  of  Public  Works  and  Public  Utilities. 

Public  works  include  the  construction  and  maintenance  of  the 
streets  and  public  areas  of  the  city ;  the  sewer  system,  including 
sometimes  the  disposal  of  all  municipal  wastes,  and,  in  cities 
upon  navigable  waters,  harbor  improvements.  These  activities 
are,  today,  no  longer  under  private  control  but  are  constructed 
and  maintained  by  funds  derived  almost  exclusively  from  taxa- 

355 


356  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

tion.  Public  utilities  include  the  supply  of  water,  gas,  elec- 
tricity, heat,  transportation  and  terminals.  These  are  main- 
tained from  the  proceeds  from  the  sale  of  the  commodity  pro- 
duced or  service  rendered,  and  are  conducted  either  by  the  city 
or  by  private  corporations. 

Since  all  these  activities  form  subordinate  parts  of  or  are 
closely  connected  with  the  general  city  plan,  that  subject,  after 
some  introductory  paragraphs  of  an  historical  character,  de- 
mands first  consideration. 

Effect  of  Urban  Growth  on  Municipal  Activities.  Attention  has 
been  called  to  the  fact  that  it  was  not  until  the  end  of  the  eight- 
eenth century  that  European  cities  began  seriously  to  take  up 
the  matter  of  local  improvements.  Up  to  that  time  cities 
had  very  commonly  been  struggling  for  the  right  to  exercise 
those  powers  the  exercise  of  which  the  commercial  classes  (which 
were  practically  identical  with  the  urban  population),  regarded 
as  necessary  for  the  development  of  commerce  and  its  attendant 
industries.  It  has  also  been  shown  that  with  the  widening  of 
commercial  interests  and  the  improvement  of  the  commercial  law, 
these  powers  were  assumed  by  the  state.  This  widening  of 
commercial  interests,  though  it  removed  from  the  city  powers 
formerly  exercised,  had  for  its  ultimate  result  an  increase  in 
municipal  activity  in  other  directions.  It  caused  a  concentra- 
tion of  population  which  made  necessary  the  grant  of  new  powers 
to  the  cities. 

It  is  interesting  to  note,  however,  that  at  first  the  attempt  was 
made  to  forbid  by  law  the  growth  of  cities.  Thus  as  early  as 
1683  the  attempt  was  made  in  a  royal  decree  to  fix  boundaries 
for  Paris,  beyond  which  buildings  were  not  permitted  to  be 
erected.  This  decree  sets  forth  the  disadvantages  resulting  from 
the  growth  of  the  city  as  follows:  ''That  by  the  excessive  ag- 
grandizing the  city,  the  air  would  be  rendered  more  unwholesome 
and  the  cleaning  of  the  streets  more  difficult ;  that  augmenting  the 
number  of  inhabitants  would  augment  the  price  of  provisions, 
labor  and  manufactures ;  that  it  would  cover  the  space  of  ground 
by  buildings  that  ought  to  be  cultivated  in  raising  the  necessary 
provisions  for  the  inhabitants  and  thereby  hazard  a  scarcity; 
that  the  people  in  the  neighboring  towns  and  villages  would  be 


LOCAL  IMPROVEMENTS  357 

tempted  to  come  and  fix  their  residence  in  the  capital  and  desert 
the  country  round  about ;  and  lastly  that  the  difficulty  of  govern- 
ing so  great  a  number  of  people,  would  occasion  a  disorder  in  the 
police  and  give  an  opportunity  to  rogues  and  villains  to  commit 
robberies  and  murders  both  by  night  and  by  day  within  and 
about  the -city."  It  is  needless  to  say  that  such  an  attempt  was 
a  vain  one.  The  limits  of  the  city  were  extended  by  decree  in 
1724.  But  the  attempt  to  limit  the  size  of  the  city  was  not 
abandoned.  The  decree  of  1724  like  that  of  1683  again  fixed  the 
city  limits  and  advanced  reasons  for  this  action  similar  to  those 
set  forth  in  1683.  The  decree  of  1724  also  calls  attention  to  the 
fact  "that  the  going  oftentimes  in  one  day  from  one  end  of  the 
city  to  the  other,  which  the  people  in  business  are  frequently 
obliged  to  do,  would  be  rendered  very  fatiguing  and  consequently 
the  facility  of  their  mutual  intercourse  and  communication 
would  be  greatly  interrupted. ' '  * 

The  concentration  of  population  could  not  be  resisted  and 
cities  all  over  Europe,  particularly  the  political  capitals,  had 
therefore  to  begin  to  grapple  with  the  problems  which  this  in- 
evitable and  irresistible  increase  in  population  presented. 

Early  Public  Improvements.  It  must  not  be  supposed,  how- 
ever, that  prior  to  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century  nothing  was 
done  in  cities  in  the  nature  of  public  works  to  improve  the  condi- 
tions of  city  life.  We  have  two  interesting  accounts  of  con- 
ditions as  they  existed  in  Paris  at  about  the  beginning  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  which  prove  the  contrary.  The  one  was 
written  in  1698  by  Dr.  Martin  Lister,  who  attended  the  Earl  of 
Portland  in  his  embassy  to  France  to  negotiate  the  Treaty  of 
Peace  of  Ryswick ; 2  the  other,  quoted  above,  is  said  to  have  been 
written  by  W.  Mildmay,  and  was  published  anonymously  in  1753. 
A  perusal  of  these  books  will  show  that  even  as  early  as  the  be- 
ginning of  the  eighteenth  century  Paris  had  made  some  pro- 
vision for  a  public  water  supply.  This  consisted  of  three  small 
aqueducts  supplemented  by  pumps  which  drew  water  from  the 
Seine.  That  these  were  inadequate  is  shown  by  Mildmay 's  state- 

1  Mildmay,  "The  Police  of  France,"  London,  1753,  p.  131. 

2  Lister,  "An  Account  of  Paris  at  the  Close  of  the  Seventeenth  Cen- 
tury," etc. 


358  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

ments  that  generally  water  is  conveyed  to  the  inhabitants  "by 
pailfulls  sold  about  the  streets  as  milk  is  in  London,"  3  and  "that 
no  inconsiderable  number  of  people  are  employed  in  thus  carry- 
ing about  what  is  so  universally  wanted.  .  .  .  He,  therefore,  that 
would  propose  any  other  method  of  conveying  water  into  the 
houses  must  previously  point  out  some  other  means  of  subsistence 
for  the  numbers  of  people  who  at  present  gain  their  livelihood  by 
this  method. ' ' 4 

Similarly  crude  attempts  were  made  to  provide  for  street 
paving,  cleaning  and  lighting.  Originally  every  inhabitant  was 
obliged  in  Paris,  as  in  London,  to  pave  the  street  or  a  portion  of 
it  in  front  of  his  house.  The  inconvenience  of  such  a  method, 
on  account  of  the  unevenness  and  want  of  uniformity  in  the 
pavement  led  in  Paris  to  a  change  as  early  as  1609,  when  the 
care  of  the  paving  was  put  into  the  hands  of  the  city  authorities 
and  the  expense  defrayed  by  a  tax  placed  on  each  house  in  pro- 
portion to  its  front  on  the  street.  In  1640  the  city  defrayed  the 
expense  out  of  the  proceeds  of  a  tax  paid  on  merchandise  brought 
into  the  city.  The  actual  work  of  paving  was  done  by  contract 
made  in  great  detail  as  to  the  size  of  stones  and  the  method  of 
laying  them.  The  contractor  was  aided  in  the  performance  of 
his  contract  by  a  law  imposing  the  obligation  on  all  wagons 
coming  into  the  city  to  bring  in  a  certain  quantity  of  paving 
stones,  which  were  to  be  delivered  gratis  at  the  city  limits.  This 
method  of  caring  for  street  paving  was  still  in  force  at  the  end 
of  the  eighteenth  century. 

Similar  methods  were  adopted  for  cleaning  the  streets.  In 
1666  the  King  decreed  that  a  tax  for  this  purpose  should  be  im- 
posed on  every  house  in  proportion  to  its  front.  The  actual 
cleaning  was  let  out  by  contract  to  the  lowest  bidder.  The  con- 
tractor was  obliged  to  collect  the  heaps  of  dirt  swept  up  by  the 
householders,  who  were  required  to  sweep  the  street  in  front  of 
their  premises.  Half  an  hour  before  the  carts  came  along  a 
bell  was  rung  so  as  to  give  warning  of  their  approach.  Mild- 
may,  from  whose  book  this  description  of  street  cleaning  methods 
is  taken,  adds:  "But  with  regard  to  the  dirt  and  mud  in  the 

»Mildmay,  "The  Police  of  France,"  p.  95. 
*  Ibid.,  p.  97. 


LOCAL  IMPROVEMENTS  359 

middle  of  the  streets,  other  tombrels  are  employed,  at  stated 
hours,  every  morning  and  afternoon,  both  in  summer  and  winter, 
to  sweep  and  throw  into  their  tombrels,  whatever  they  may  be 
able  to  contain  according  as  the  weather  may  be  wet  or  dry; 
particularly  they  are  to  be  more  assiduous  in  their  duty  in  hard 
winters,  to  carry  off  or  sweep  into  the  kennels,  all  the  ice  or 
snow  that  may  fall ;  for  which  extraordinary  duty,  whenever  it 
happens,  they  are  allowed  a  gratification  at  the  end  of  the  year, 
over  and  above  their  annual  salary. ' ' 6 

The  expense  of  lighting  the  streets  was  defrayed  also  from 
the  receipts  of  a  tax  imposed  on  the  householders.  Mildmay 
says:  "Two  persons  are  generally  contracted  with  for  this  un- 
dertaking; the  one  to  find  the  lanthorns,  cords  and  pullies;  and 
the  other  to  supply  the  candles:  for  the  streets  are  here  illumi- 
nated by  hanging  lanthorns  on  the  middle-  of  a  cord  that  reaches 
cross  the  street ;  and  is  fixed  to  pullies  on  each  side,  at  about  fif- 
teen feet  high  and  about  fifteen  yards  distance  from  one  an- 
other. There  are  6500  lanthorns,  and  consequently  as  many 
candles  consumed  every  time  they  are  lighted,  which  is  only 
twenty  times  a  month,  being  laid  aside  during  the  moon-light 
nights ;  and  are  never  lighted,  but  from  the  last  day  of  Septem- 
ber to  the  first  day  of  April  each  year ;  being  taken  down  and  set 
apart  during  all  the  summer  months. " 6  Elections  were  held 
annually  in  each  quarter  of  the  city  by  the  householders.  The 
persons  elected  had  each  charge  of  fifteen  lanterns  and  paid,  as 
Mildmay  puts  it,  "some  menial  servant  or  poor  housekeeper  in 
the  same  street  to  perform  the  duty ;  accordingly  every  evening, 
as  soon  as  it  begins  to  grow  dark,  the  commissary  sends  out  a 
person,  ringing  a  handbell  through  the  streets  of  the  quarter  to 
give  notice,  as  in  the  morning  for  cleaning  the  streets ;  so  now  for 
lighting  them;  upon  which  each  lanternier's  servant  immedi- 
ately sallies  out  and  having  a  key  to  the  iron  box  in  which  the 
end  of  every  cord  is  fastened  on  the  sides  of  the  streets,  lets 
down  the  lanthorn  hanging  on  the  same,  and  fixing  his  lighted 
candle  therein  draws  it  up  again ;  and  thus  every  one  having  only 
fifteen  lanthorns  under  his  care,  the  whole  city  is  illuminated, 

s  Mildmay,  "The  Police  of  France,"  p.  120. 
« Ibid.,  p.  122. 


360  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

in  a  very  short  space  after  notice  ;  though  the  light  itself  is  in- 
deed a  very  indifferent  one.  '  '  7  While  cities  like  Paris  had  thus 
as  early  as  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century  made  at- 
tempts to  provide  themselves  with  some  of  what  we  now  regard 
as  the  conveniences  if  not  the  necessities  of  modern  urban  life, 
little  if  anything  had  been  done  to  make  city  life  much  more 
than  endurable.  Even  so  late  as  1853,  when  Napoleon  III  and 
Haussmann  began  the  reconstruction  of  Paris,  "the  streets  in  the 
old  city  within  the  enceintes  were  in  a  shocking  condition.  In 
one  the  houses  on  opposite  sides  leaned  against  each  other;  in 
another  two  persons  could  not  pass  abreast;  in  nearly  all  the 
gutter  was  in  the  middle  ;  very  few  had  sidewalks.  '  '  8 

The  City  Plan.  By  the  term  "city  plan"  is  meant  the  general 
physical  arrangement  of  the  city  including  its  natural  topo- 
graphical features,  street  arrangement,  public  places  and  build- 
ings, and  the  transportation,  drainage  and  water  supply  systems. 
This  plan  may  be  the  product  of  natural  growth  or  it  may  be  the 
result  of  "city  planning,"  that  is,  of  a  preconceived  plan  de- 
signed to  achieve  certain  ideals. 

Development  under  Natural  Growth.  The  formation  of  the 
city  plan  by  natural  growth  consists  of  successive  steps  each  of 
which  may  have  been  consciously  taken  but  without  reference  to 
any  general  scheme  of  future  development.  Concerning  this 
process  of  natural  development  one  author  says:  "A  cursory 
glance  reveals  similarities  -among  cities  and  further  investiga- 
tion demonstrates  that  their  structural  movements,  complex  and 
apparently  irregular  as  they  -are,  respond  to  definite  principles. 
.  .  .  Cities  originate  at  their  most  convenient  point  of  contact 
with  the  outer  world  and  grow  in  the  lines  of  least  resistance  or 
greatest  attraction  of  their  resultants.  The  point  of  contact  dif- 
fers according  to  the  methods  of  transportation,  whether  by 
water,  by  turnpike,  or  by  railroad.  The  forces  of  attraction 
and  resistance  include  topography,  the  underlying  material  on 
which  the  city  builders  work;  external  influences  projected  into 
the  city  by  trade  routes  ;  internal  influences  derived  from  located 


s  Smith,  "The  Topographical  Evolution  of  the  City  of  Paris,"  Bouse  and 
Garden,  Vol.  VI  (1904),  p.  287. 


LOCAL  IMPROVEMENTS  361 

utilities,  and  finally  the  reactions  and  readjustments  due  to  the 
continual  harmonizing  of  conflicting  elements.  The  influence 
of  topography,  all  powerful  when  cities  start,  is  constantly  modi- 
fied by  human  labor,  hills  being  cut  down,  waterfronts  extended, 
and  swamps,  creeks  and  low  lands  filled  in,  this,  however,  not 
taking  place  until  the  new  building  sites  are  worth  more  than 
the  cost  of  filling  and  cutting.  .  .  .  Growth  in  cities  consists  of 
movement  away  from  the  point  of  origin  except  as  topographi- 
cally hindered,  this  movement  being  due  both  to  aggregation  at 
the  edges  and  pressure  from  the  center.  Central  growth  takes 
place  both  from  the  heart  of  the  city  and  from  each  subcenter 
of  attraction  and  axial  growth  pushes  into  the  outlying  territory 
by  means  of  railroads,  turnpikes  and  street  railroads.  .  .  .  Cen- 
tral growth  due  to  proximity  and  axial  growth  due  to  accessi- 
bility are  summed  up  in  the  static  power  of  established  sections 
and  the  dynamic  power  of  their  chief  lines  of  inter-communica- 
tion."9 

The  ordinary  results  of  such  a  natural  growth  will  be  a  more 
or  less  irregular  city,  such  as  is  frequently  found  in  the  unrecon- 
structed cities  of  Europe  and  the  older  parts  of  the  older  Ameri- 
can cities.  A  good  example  of  such  growth  is  to  be  found  in 
old  Paris,  as  described,  that  is,  Paris  prior  to  its  reconstruction 
on  the  plans  of  Louis  XIV,  and  in  the  older  portions  of  either 
New  York  or  Boston. 

Perhaps  no  city,  and  certainly  no  European  city,  concerning 
whose  early  development  we  have  such  definite  knowledge,  illus- 
trates better  the  process  of  natural  development  than  does  Paris. 
We  have,  it  is  true,  no  maps  of  the  city  antedating  the  time  of 
Francis  I.  More  or  less  successful  attempts  have  been  made, 
however,  to  construct  from  other  data  maps  which  depict  Paris 
at  various  periods  from  the  time  when  during  the  early  Roman 
period  it  occupied  merely  the  island  in  the  Seine  which  now 
forms  the  heart  of  the  great  city.  Lutetia  Parisiorum,  as  it  was 
called,  was  founded  on  this  island  evidently  to  secure  protection 
against  hostile  attack.  It  was  traversed  by  a  road  running  north 
and  south,  which  even  now  forms  one  of  the  important  streets  of 

»  Hurd,  "Principles  of  City  Land  Values,"  p.  14. 


362  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

the  city.  To  the  north  of  the  Seine  this  road  was  crossed  by  an- 
other road  running  east  and  west  about  parallel  with  the  Seine. 
These  two  roads  formed  what  was  known  in  the  Middle  Ages  as 
the  great  cross — la  grande  croisee.  From  their  intersection 
branched  other  roads  at  an  angle  to  the  northwest  and  northeast. 
On  the  south  of  the  Seine  another  road  branched  off  to  the  south- 
west. The  city  even  during  the  days  of  the  Roman  Empire 
seems  to  have  extended  on  both  sides  of  the  river,  particularly  to 
the  north,  and  naturally  grew  along  the  lines  of  the  main  roads. 
A  glance  at  the  maps  shows  also  that  at  the  intersection  or  unions 
of  such  roads  there  sprang  up  little  settlements,  each  of  which 
was  a  center  of  growth.  From  these  centers  the  agglomerations 
of  houses  extended  until  all  distinction  between  them  disap- 
peared. 

When  the  peaceful  days  of  the  Roman  Empire  disappeared 
fortifications  were  built  to  protect  the  inhabitants.  These  for- 
tifications were  pulled  down  and  others  placed  further  out,  as 
the  city  extended,  the  place  they  occupied  being  taken  by  new 
streets.  "We  find,  therefore,  a  series  of  concentric  circular  streets 
forming  main  thoroughfares,  in  addition  to  the  diagonal  streets 
due  to  following  the  original  roads  which  have  been  described. 
Such  was  Paris  until  about  the  time  of  Louis  XIV.  It  had 
grown  comparatively  symmetrically  along  the  lines  of  travel 
and  from  the  outlying  centers  and  had  been  able  to  do  so  because 
of  favorable  topographical  conditions.  The  country  immedi- 
ately adjacent  to  the  Seine  was  comparatively  level,  the  only 
hills  in  the  river  valley  being  quite  a  distance  from  the  river  it- 
self. The  only  thing  which  interfered  with  its  natural  growth 
was  the  necessity  of  fortifications,  the  influence  of  which  has 
been  noted.  The  growth  of  Paris  would  thus  appear  to  have 
followed  causes  which  should  operate  under  similar  conditions. 

Development  under  a  Preconceived  Flan.  As  opposed  to  a  city 
plan  which  is  the  result  of  the  natural  growth  of  a  city  is  a  city 
plan  definitely  framed  with  certain  ideas  in  view,  such  as  to 
secure  the  most  available  space  for  building,  the  best  means  of 
communication  between  the  different  parts  of  the  city,  the  best 
architectural  effects,  or  the  healthy  housing  of  the  population. 
Such  a  plan  may  be  framed  prior  to  the  building  of  the  city. 


LOCAL  IMPROVEMENTS  363 

Two  conspicuous  instances  of  the  deliberate  planning  of  a  great 
city  in  advance  of  building  suggest  themselves:  Washington, 
which  has,  in  part  at  least,  been  developed  in  accordance  with 
the  original  design,  and  Canbarra,  the  new  capital  of  Australia, 
as  yet  in  its  early  formative  stages.  Examples  of  smaller  towns 
planned  before  building  but  upon  a  less  ambitious  scale  are  not 
uncommon.  '  Such  planning  has  the  enormous  advantage  of  hav- 
ing only  the  obstacles  of  the  natural  site  to  overcome. 

City  planning  may,  on  the  other  hand,  be  applied  to  a  city 
already  developed  in  order  to  remedy  the  defects  incident  to 
natural  city  growth.  The  narrow,  crooked  streets  and  inade- 
quate open  spaces  characteristic  of  such  growth  can  be  overcome 
only  by  the  expenditure  of  vast  sums  of  money.  More  than 
$250,000,000  is  said  to  have  been  spent  in  the  realization  of  the 
present  city  plan  of  Paris.10 

The  Street  Flan.  The  street  system  forms  the  basis  of  any  city 
plan.  Upon  the  street  plan  the  whole  system  of  transporta- 
tion and  communication  depends;  the  water  and  sewer  systems 
are  planned  with  reference  to  the  street  system,  and  the  loca- 
tion of  smaller  parks  and  public  buildings  is  closely  related 
thereto.  The  layout  of  building  lots  and  the  use  thereof  are 
determined  by  the  adjacent  streets. 

Whenever  city  plans  are  consciously  framed  the  street  system 
tends  to  assume  one  of  three  types:  the  rectangular,  the  radial 
or  diagonal,  or  the  circular.  The  rectangular  plan  which  is, 
unfortunately,  the  prevailing  one  in  the  United  States  origi- 
nated apparently  in  Philadelphia  which  was  laid  out  in  this  way 
by  the  engineers  of  William  Penn.  This  plan  was  adopted  in 
the  laying  out  of  the  newer  part  of  New  York  City  in  the  early 
part  of  the  nineteenth  century.  From  these  conspicuous  ex- 
amples, and  because  it  conforms  to  the  plan  of  the  United  States 
public  land  survey,  the  plan  has  become  all  but  universal  in  the 
parts  of  the  United  States  west  of  the  Alleghanies.  The  rec- 
tangular plan  is,  perhaps,  one  degree  superior  to  a  haphazard 
growth.  It  is  simple  and  easily  learned  by  strangers  and  offers 
the  largest  possible  area  for  building  sites,  but  it  makes  communi- 

10  Munro,  "Principles  and  Methods  of  Municipal  Administration,"  p.  37. 


364  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

cation  between  different  parts  of  the  city  difficult  since  it  involves 
the  necessity  of  traversing  two  sides  of  a  triangle  to  reach  almost 
any  given  point.11  It  fails  to  take  into  consideration  natural 
physical  features  while  offering  a  maximum  opportunity  for 
sweeping  winds  and  whirling  dust.  Furthermore  it  is  inartistic 
and  does  not  lend  itself  to  the  best  architectural  effects,  since 
when  adopted  without  modification  it  offers  no  sites  on  which 
handsome  buildings  and  monuments  can  be  placed  so  as  to  be 
seen  to  good  advantage. 

The  radial  plan  is  less  artificial  than  the  rectangular  in  its 
origin  and  conforms  more  nearly  to  natural  lines  of  communica- 
tion. It  is  especially  adapted  to  and  is  the  natural  plan  for  cities 
having  a  water  front  where  travel  converges  upon  a  principal 
landing  place  or  bridge.  It  demands  a  broad  open  space  at  the 
focal  point  from  which  the  principal  arteries  radiate.  Examples 
of  this  plan  are  to  be  seen  in  Providence,  Buffalo  and  Detroit. 
"When  the  radial  plan  is  elaborated  by  the  use  of  several  focal 
points  it  becomes  the  diagonal  plan.  The  diagonal  plan  is  said  to 
have  been  derived  from  the  system  adopted  for  laying  out  roads 
in  the  royal  forests  of  France,  or  at  any  rate,  its  adoption  is 
due  to  the  influence  of  Louis  XIV  and  his  landscape  gardeners 
like  Le  Notre  who  made  plans  of  this  kind  for  the  development 
of  lands  outside  the  walls  of  Paris.  The  classic  example  of  this 
plan  is  Paris  where  the  plans  first  devised  for  the  suburbs  were 
applied  upon  a  vast  and  magnificent  scale  by  Baron  Haussmann 
to  the  whole  city.  "Washington  is  the  only  city  in  this  country 
which  has  been  consciously  laid  out  on  this  French  plan,  and  few 
who  compare  it  with  other  American  cities  can  fail  to  reach  the 
conclusion  that  the  Washington  plan  is  vastly  superior  from 
almost  every  point  of  view  to  the  plan  upon  which  the  ordinary 
American  city  is  laid  out.  "While  the  diagonal  street  plan  sac- 
rifices a  great  deal  of  space  to  the  streets  and  avenues  for  which 
it  makes  provision,  particularly  if  these  streets  and  avenues  are 
unduly  wide,  and  while  its  adoption  is  necessarily  accompanied 
by  the  presence  of  many  irregular  plots  which  are  not  well 
suited  for  building  purposes,  it  provides  most  convenient  means 

11  Robinson,  "The  Improvement  of  Towns  and  Cities,"  p.  21. 


LOCAL  IMPROVEMENTS  365 

of  communication  for  all  parts  of  the  city,  and  permits  of  the 
freest  possible  circulation  of  air  and  of  the  most  attractive  archi- 
tectural effects.  The  centers  chosen  for  the  intersection  of 
diagonal  streets  offer  sites  upon  which  buildings  may  be  placed 
so  as  to  be  seen  from  afar  and  to  the  greatest  possible  advantage. 

The  circular  plan,  which  is  so  characteristic  of  Vienna,  and 
traces  of  which  we  find  in  Paris,  is  due  in  most  instances  to  the 
accidents  of  the  growth  of  formerly  fortified  places.  In  cities 
whose  topography  permits,  it  has  been  in  some  instances  con- 
sciously adopted  for  the  outlying  sections  and  when  combined 
with  a  park  system,  whose  separated  portions  it  may  serve  to 
unite,  it  undoubtedly  subserves  a  useful  purpose.  It  has  few 
advantages,  however,  to  commend  it  for  purposes  of  convenience 
in  building  or  of  transportation,  and  it  is  therefore  seldom 
adopted,  except  as  stated,  in  any  plans  of  city  reconstruction 
which  may  be  undertaken. 

Street  Flans  in  Actual  Practice.  It  is  seldom  the  case,  how- 
ever, that  cities  even  when  reconstructed  or  laid  out  on  a  plan 
formulated  in  advance,  conform  entirely  to  one  of  these  plans. 
In  the  United  States,  where  few  if  any  of  the  cities  have  been 
reconstructed,  the  older  cities  usually  contain  an  older  irregular 
portion  which  has  grown  in  a  haphazard  fashion  and  a  new 
portion  or  new  portions  laid  out  on  the  rectangular  plan  after  the 
New  York  fashion.  Boston  and  New  York  are  instances  of  such 
cities.  In  the  newer  cities  and  in  Philadelphia,  which  has  kept 
its  original  plan  except  in  the  outskirts,  the  rectangular  plan  is 
usually  found  predominating,  but  even  here  the  prevailing  plan 
is  modified  by  the  presence  of  old  roads  which  cut  across  the 
rectangular  lines.  Chicago  is  a  good  instance  of  such  a  city. 
The  Washington  plan,  as  it  now  exists,  is  the  result  of  the  super- 
imposition  of  the  French  diagonal  street  plan  upon  the  ordinary 
American  rectangular  plan.  Sometimes  the  rectangular  plan  is 
modified  by  the  presence  of  two  axes  on  which  the  rectangles  are 
based.  Cities  laid  out  on  the  rectangular  plan  usually  attempt 
to  find  their  axis  in  the  most  important  topographical  factor  of 
the  site  chosen.  If  this  is  a  river  there  will  be  only  one  axis,  as 
in  Philadelphia ;  if  it  is  a  harbor  or  bay  the  plotting  may  follow 
roughly  the  course  of  the  harbor,  as  in  Baltimore  and  the  lower 


366  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

part  of  New  York.  Finally,  an  original  town  site  laid  out  in 
this  way  along  one  axis  may  extend  beyond  the  limits  which  were 
originally  fixed.  The  city  may,  then,  if  in  an  American  state 
which  has  been  a  public  land  state,  change  its  axis  when  it 
reaches  the  lands  which  have  been  subjected  to  the  work  of  the 
United  States  surveyor,  who  invariably  follows  north  and  south 
and  east  and  west  lines.  This  is  the  case,  for  example,  in 
Denver. 

"Only  in  rare  instances  have  great  cities  begun  large  under- 
takings of  replanning  which  involve  at  one  time  radical  changes 
in  the  street  plan  or  the  abandonment  of  existing  public  buildings 
in  order  that  broad  avenues,  civic  centers  and  imposing  public 
buildings  might  appear.  The  enormous  cost,  the  inertia  of  pub- 
lic senjtiment  and  the  opposition  of  vested  interests  have  pre- 
vented. London  missed  its  great  opportunity  when,  after  the 
great  fire,  vested  interests  prevented  the  rebuilding  according  to 
Wrenn's  plans.  Likewise,  America  has  seen  similar  opportuni- 
ties lost  in  Boston,  Chicago,  San  Francisco  and  Baltimore.  Paris 
and  Vienna  present  the  two  notable  examples  of  replanning  on 
an  elaborate  scale. 

"As  a  practical  problem  today  city  planning  presents  two 
aspects : 

' '  First :  In  the  older  parts  of  cities  it  is  a  matter  of  replan- 
ning through  the  opening  of  new  streets  or  the  widening  of  old 
ones  to  relieve  congestion ;  the  cleaning  up  of  a  slum ;  the  creating 
of  parks  and  breathing  spaces  in  crowded  neighborhoods ;  or  de- 
termining and  preparing  the  site  for  a  public  building.  Such 
projects  involve  the  expenditure  of  vast  sums — the  penalty  paid 
for  lack  of  foresight  in  the  past — and  in  their  turn  are  usually 
carried  out  singly  and  without  the  look  ahead  to  future  building. 
Millions  are  being  spent  in  our  older  cities  as  tribute  to  lack  of 
planning.  New  York  City  has  spent  in  a  generation  not  less  than 
four  hundred  million  dollars  in  correcting  mistakes. 

"Second:  In  the  outlying  districts  there  is  going  on  real 
work  of  planning  streets  and  improvements.  Here  is  the  oppor- 
tunity for  a  harmonious  and  considered  development  which, 
though  too  often  neglected,  may  be  produced  by  cooperation  be- 


LOCAL  IMPROVEMENTS  367 

tween  authorities  and  the  intelligent  self-interest  of  pro- 
prietors. ' ' " 

In  the  case  of  cities  which  have  been  reconstructed  and 
which  are  found  for  the  most  part  in  Europe,  reconstructed 
Paris  has  usually  been  taken  as  a  model.  The  reconstruction  has 
usually  consisted  first,  in  the  destruction  of  the  city  walls,  which 
no  longer  subserve  a  useful  purpose,  and  the  building  of  streets 
and  avenues  upon  the  site  of  the  walls,  and  second  in  the  super- 
imposition  upon  the  old  city  plan  of  the  French  plan  of  chosen 
centers  from  which  radiate  diagonal  streets.  This  has  been  done 
in  large  measure  in  Vienna.  At  first  the  attempt  was  made  to 
use  the  site  of  the  old  fortifications  for  a  park.  But  the  result- 
ing isolation  of  the  business  part  of  the  city  made  it  seem  advis- 
able to  make  use  of  this  unoccupied  land  for  building  purposes 
with  the  result  that  the  Ringstrasse  which  circles  about  the  old 
city  is  occupied  by  a  series  of  stately  public  and  private  build- 
ings which  produce  an  architectural  effect  seldom  to  be  found. 
In  the  building  up  of  this  district  considerable  use  has  been  made 
of  the  rectangular  idea. 

City  reconstruction  has  often  been  accomplished  also,  as  in 
Paris,  by  a  radical  replanning  of  the  old  irregular  portion  of 
the  city.  Where  this  is  done  intelligently  as  was  the  case  in 
Paris,  the  attempt  is  made  both  to  preserve  existing  buildings  of 
high  character  and  to  place  them  in  an  artistic  setting.  Thus 
Haussmann  says,  in  his  Memoires,  that  "he  never  opened  a  new 
street  without  considering  carefully  what  monuments  might  be 
brought  into  vista.  .  .  .  Taking  as  the  basis  of  this  work  the 
old  types,  which  the  designers  of  the  seventeenth  century  had 
brought  in  from  the  forests  and  country,  Haussmann  and  his  en- 
gineers considered  all  the  many  things  which  a  street  is  required 
to  do,  and  the  qualities  which  lead  to  beauty  of  effect,  and  be- 
fore constructing  it  arranged  the  profiles  of  the  section  so  that 
all  conditions  might  be  met.  An  agreeable  relation  between  the 
width  of  the  street  and  the  height  of  buildings  was  established. 
The  central  pavement  was  made  convex  with  gutters  on  either 

12  Bates,  "City  Planning,"  Indiana  Bureau  of  Legislative  Information, 
Bulletin  No.  8,  p.  6. 


368  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

side,  sidewalks  were  provided  and,  if  possible,  these  were  adorned 
by  one  or  two  rows  of  trees,  in  the  genial  old  French  style. 
Sculpture,  fountains  and  monuments  were  introduced  in  proper 
localities."18 

City  Planning  in  Frankfort.  Few  cities  in  the  world  had,  in 
the  generation  preceding  the  outbreak  of  the  world  war,  devoted 
so  much  attention  to  their  plans  as  had  the  city  of  Frankfort-on- 
the-Main  in  Germany.  Frankfort  was  favorably  situated  for 
undertaking  this  work  in  that  the  city  owned  a  large  amount  of 
land  outside  of  its  limits.  But  it  had  to  secure  also  wide  powers 
of  expropriation  and  the  passage  of  a  special  law — a  remarkable 
thing  in  Prussia — by  which  it  is  authorized  to  undertake  a  com- 
prehensive redistribution  of  land  titles  in  its  suburbs.  As  a 
result  of  the  exercise  of  these  powers  it  may  with  the  consent  of 
half  the  landholders  in  interest  unite  into  one  plot  all  the  land  in 
a  given  area,  whoever  may  be  its  owners.  After  laying  out  such 
streets  and  squares  as  it  deems  necessary,  it  returns  to  each 
landholder  a  site  equal  to  the  size  of  the  plot  he  had  to  surrender 
for  distribution  purposes,  less  the  proportion  taken  for  streets 
and  squares.  Where  resort  is  not  had  to  redistribution  the  city 
has  to  pay  for  the  land  taken  for  streets  but  the  expense  to  which 
it  is  put  it  is  able  to  recoup  by  the  levy  of  local  assessments  on 
property  abutting  on  the  streets  which  must  also  bear  the  ex- 
pense of  maintaining  the  new  street  for  five  years.  Taxes  on  the 
unearned  increment  of  the  land  are  also  imposed  on  the  owners 
of  land  when  it  is  sold. 

Closely  connected  with  the  laying  out  of  the  city  are  the  build- 
ing regulations,  which  like  the  increment  tax  are  found  in  many 
German  cities  besides  Frankfort.  In  this  city  the  building  regu- 
lations divide  the  city  into  three  zones  or  districts.  In  the  inner 
zone  buildings  with  five  stories,  i.  e.,  basement  and  four  upper 
stories,  may  be  built ;  in  the  middle  zone  four  stories,  in  the  outer 
zone  three  and  in  narrow  streets  only  two  stories  are  permitted. 
In  the  inner  zone  seventy-five  per  cent,  in  the  middle  sixty  per 
cent,  in  the  outer  fifty  per  cent  of  the  land  may  be  built  upon, 

is  Smith,  "The  Topographical  Evolution  of  the  City  of  Paris,"  House 
and  Garden,  Vol.  VI  (1904),  p.  287. 


LOCAL  IMPROVEMENTS  369 

while  in  certain  districts  even  eighty  per  cent  of  the  land 
must  be  left  free  of  buildings.  In  some  districts  front  gardens 
on  the  streets  must  be  provided  in  addition  to  the  open  space 
otherwise  required  to  be  free  from  buildings.  The  city  also  en- 
courages the  settlement  of  its  resident  population  in  the  out- 
skirts of  the  city  by  providing  cheap  artisans'  dwellings  and  by 
loaning  to  building  societies  and  private  persons  money  at  low 
rates  of  interest  to  enable  them  to  build  such  houses.  The  re- 
sult of  this  policy  on  the  part  of  the  city  is  that  while  ' '  there  are 
in  Frankfort,  as  in  all  large  and  ancient  cities,  a  number  of  un- 
desirable dwellings  .  .  .  the  area  in  which  these  dwellings  exist 
is  constantly  decreasing  because  these  dwellings  are  being  trans- 
formed into  offices.  A  great  many  old  houses  have  disappeared 
owing  to  the  laying  out  of  new  streets. ' ' 14 

The  Ideal  City  Plan.  In  the  work  of  both  planning  and  re- 
planning,  a  combination  of  the  three  plans  which  have  been  de- 
scribed is  perhaps  the  ideal.  This  has  been  widely  accepted  on 
the  continent  of  Europe  and  has  been  exemplified  in  many  Ger- 
man cities  and  in  Milan  and  Vienna.  The  ideal  has  been  graphi- 
cally described  by  an  authority  on  the  subject:  "Imagine  a  cen- 
tral point,  a  plaza — as  with  happy  effect  in  many  an  old-world 
city — or  the  green  or  common  of  a  village.  It  is  a  grouping 
spot  for  the  public  buildings,  or  it  may  be  a  strongly  distin- 
guished natural  feature  of  the  site,  perhaps  an  eminence  and  oc- 
casionally even  the  water  front.  To  this,  numerous  diagonal 
streets  of  primary  importance  would  focus,  so  cutting  irregu- 
larly a  network  of — not  oblong  blocks,  as  in  New  York,  but 
even  squares  with  access  to  the  rear  of  the  houses.  And  around 
the  outside,  or  at  various  periods,  place  circling  parkways,  or 
boulevards — like  those  for  instance  of  Brussels — whence  the 
diagonal  streets  may  radiate.  The  result  is  a  wheel,  superim- 
posed upon  a  checkerboard.  The  hub  is  the  true  heart  of  the 
town;  the  spokes  are  arterial  thoroughfares,  receiving  the 
heaviest  traffic  because  they  are  the  most  direct  lines  of  com- 
munication. The  rim,  or  rims,  are  boulevards  and  parkways  af- 
fording convenient  means  for  belt  line  intercourse.  Incident- 
ally, the  vista  of  every  street  is  broken  at  intervals,  for  very 

uLunn,  "Municipal  Lessons  from  Southern  Germany,"  p.  43. 


370  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

long  street  perspectives  without  substantial  termini  are  not 
things  to  be  desired.  Unless  there  be  plainly  visible  an  eminence 
or  an  architectural  or  sculptural  mass,  at  the  end  of  the  street, 
distance  becomes  only  wearisome. 

"The  practical  merits  of  this  plan  are  well  illustrated  in 
Vienna,  where  the  daily  distribution  of  population  is  said  to  take 
place  more  easily  than  in  any  other  large  city.  But  from  the 
artistic  standpoint  only,  we  have  here,  first,  the  dominating 
central  point  of  site  or  business,  putting  a  stamp  upon  the 
city  and  giving  to  it  that  distinctiveness  that  so  many  urban 
communities  lack.  Upon  this  is  laid  all  the  emphasis  that  street 
arrangement  can  give.  Then,  in  the  junction  of  diagonal  streets 
with  the  parallelogram's  regularity,  we  have  at  hand  the  ap- 
propriate sites  for  adornment  with  fountains,  statues  and  little 
parks.  The  problem  has  not  been  solved  as  if  it  were  that  of  an 
exposition.  It  is  a  simple,  practical  and  systematic  ground-plan 
available  for  a  busy  city  or  for  a  quiet  village.  Towns  already 
under  way  may,  indeed,  require  modifications  of  it;  and  a  site 
like  Manhattan  Island  may  render  the  whole  impractical;  but 
it  is  helpful  to  have  clearly  in  view  a  general  ideal  scheme  and 
its  advantages. ' ' 15 

Public  Works.  The  city  plan  is  of  fundamental  importance, 
not  merely  because  of  the  effect  which  it  has  upon  architectural, 
artistic  and  sanitary  conditions,  but  also  because  of  the  relations 
between  it  and  almost  all  the  public  works  and  public  utilities 
undertaken  within  the  city. 

The  streets  form,  as  it  were,  the  frame  work  upon  and  about 
which  a  large  part  of  the  works  and  utilities  of  the  city  center. 
Except  in  the  case  of  streets  opened  as  a  part  of  replanning  oper- 
ations, the  clearing  of  obstructions  and  reduction  to  sub-grade  is 
ordinarily  performed  by  the  private  interests  desiring  the  open- 
ing of  the  street.  The  first  and  most  extensive  public  work  in 
connection  with  the  street  is  the  construction  of  the  pavement, 
but  even  this,  too,  is  not  infrequently  undertaken  by  the  pro- 
moter of  the  street  before  acceptance  by  the  city. 

Street  pavements  date  from  the  earliest  historic  time.  Streets 
in  Home  itself  and  in  other  cities  of  the  Roman  Empire  were 

is  Robinson,  "The  Improvement  of  Towns  and  Cities,"  p.  23. 


LOCAL  IMPROVEMENTS  371 

paved  before  the  Christian  era  though  upon  no  such  elaborate 
scale  as  was  to  be  found  on  the  great  military  roads.  The  Moors 
built  paved  streets  in  Cordova  in  the  tenth  century,  and  in  the 
thirteenth  century  brick  pavements  were  laid  down  in  some  of 
the  cities  of  the  Low  Countries.16  In  Paris  as  early  as  1604  the 
paving  of  the  streets  was  recognized  as  a  function  of  government. 
It  was  not,  however,  until  the  earlier  part  of  the  nineteenth 
century  that  street  pavements  may  be  said  to  have  become  com- 
mon, and  even  then  were  mostly  confined  to  the  more  important 
streets  in  large  cities.  Examples  of  street  pavements  were  rare 
in  America  before  the  Revolution.  Cobble  stones  and  granite 
blocks  were  the  earliest  materials  used. 

At  the  present  time  pavements  are  constructed  of  granite 
and  wood  blocks,  brick,  cement,  bituminous  substances  under  the 
generic  name  of  asphalt,  and  macadam.  No  one  of  these  sub- 
stances seems  to  be  best  adapted  to  use  under  all  conditions  and 
in  all  places  when  are  taken  into  consideration  first  cost,  dura- 
bility, economy  in  repair,  cleanliness,  and  noiselessness.  With 
some  forms  of  pavement  and  under  heavy  traffic  conditions  the 
maintenance  of  the  street  surface  becomes  almost  as  serious  a 
problem  for  the  engineer  as  the  original  construction,  and  must 
always  have  a  large  part  in  the  determination  of  the  type  of 
material  to  be  adopted.  Sidewalks  were  rarely  provided  at  all 
before  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century. 

Bridges  constitute  in  many  cities  not  an  inconsiderable  element 
in  public  works.  In  some  instances  important  bridges  are 
created  in  whole  or  in  part  by  state  or  county ;  in  others  the  work 
is  undertaken  by  some  quasi-public  corporation.  Among  the 
most  important  municipal  bridges  in  America  are  those  across 
the  East  River  in  New  York,  across  the  Charles  in  Boston  and 
across  the  valley  of  the  Cuyahoga  at  Cleveland. 

While  drains  for  the  removal  of  surface  water  date  from  an 
early  time,  sewers  proper  worthy  of  the  name  do  not  appear 
before  about  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Their  con- 
struction on  any  extensive  scale  seems  to  have  begun  in  Paris. 
London  followed  after  a  brief  interval  but  in  America  few  public 

i«  Fairlie,  "Municipal  Administration,"  p.  227. 


372  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

sewers  were  constructed  before  1850.  Though  the  sewers  of 
Paris  are  the  most  famous  in  the  world,  the  cities  of  Great 
Britain  and  the  larger  cities  of  the  United  States  are  the  most 
completely  supplied.  Baltimore  and  New  Orleans,  the  most  re- 
cent of  the  larger  cities  to  take  up  the  work,  have  now  perhaps  the 
most  complete  systems. 

The  public  work  connected  with  the  sewer  system  involves  the 
problem  not  only  of  removal  but  of  sewage  disposal.  The  obvi- 
ous first  solution  of  the  problem  of  disposal  is  to  discharge 
sewage  into  a  neighboring  stream  or  tidal  water.  Inland  cities 
situated  in  a  level  country  and  upon  slow  flowing  streams  or 
upon  lakes  have  found  it  necessary  to  make  provision  for  pump- 
ing and  for  final  disposal.  Purification  and  utilization  as  fer- 
tilizer are  common  methods  of  ultimate  disposal  where  natural 
water  courses  have  been  found  inadequate  to  the  work.  The 
location  of  the  city  of  New  Orleans  below  the  level  of  the  Missis- 
sippi river  has  made  difficult  the  problem  of  removal  and  dis- 
posal there.  A  difficult  situation  at  Chicago  has  been  solved  in  a 
unique  manner.  The  Chicago  drainage  canal  diverting  water 
from  Lake  Michigan  is  employed  not  only  for  sewage  purification 
and  disposal  but  for  the  generation  of  electric  power  which  is 
used  both  to  light  the  city  streets  and  to  carry  on  private  manu- 
facturing in  the  city. 

Even  cities  situated  upon  tidal  waters  which  rise  and  fall  to 
a  considerable  extent  find  that  there  is  a  limit  to  which  the  sur- 
rounding waters  can  safely  be  polluted  by  the  discharge  of 
sewage.  Glasgow  and  London  have  been  obliged  to  undertake 
works  for  sewage  disposal  and  some  system  of  purification  will 
probably  be  necessary  ultimately  for  all  cities  of  considerable 
size. 

Public  Utilities — Water.  Public  utilities  have  been  described 
above  as  comprising  a  group  of  services  including  the  supply  of 
water,  gas,  electricity,  heat,  transportation  and  terminals,  which 
are  maintained  by  the  sale  of  the  commodity  produced  or  the 
service  rendered.  While  these  services  are  now  clearly  recog- 
nized as  of  a  public  character,  it  is  a  fact  that  quite  universally, 
and  especially  in  the  United  States  where  individualistic  no- 
tions prevail,  the  inception  and  early  control  of  these  utilities 


LOCAL  IMPROVEMENTS  373 

have  been  in  private  hands.  At  the  present  time,  however, 
public  utilities  are  constructed  and  operated  either  by  public  or 
private  interests. 

With  the  increase  and  congestion  of  population  a  service  which 
is  as  imperative  as  that  of  drainage  and  as  intimately  connected 
with  the  public  health  is  an  adequate  supply  of  pure  water.  The 
effort  entailed  upon  any  city  in  obtaining  such  a  supply  depends, 
however,  in  large  measure  upon  its  geographical  situation.  A 
city  like  Glasgow,  which  is  situated  near  a  hilly  country  blessed 
with  a  heavy  rainfall,  is  called  upon  to  do  much  less  in  the  way  of 
water  supply  than  a  city  like  New  York,  situated  on  the  sea  coast 
at  quite  a  distance  from  elevated  land  and  in  a  district  where 
droughts  are  not  unknown.  Other  cities,  like  those  on  the  Great 
Lakes,  which  have  a  copious  supply  of  potable  water  near  at 
hand,  have  still  less  to  do  than  Glasgow.  Their  work  consists 
merely  in  pumping  into  their  distributing  systems  from  the  reser- 
voirs at  their  very  doors.  Glasgow  has  to  maintain  expensive 
aqueducts,  while  New  York  in  addition  to  aqueducts  must  main- 
tain large  storage  reservoirs.  Other  cities,  like  Hamburg,  have 
found  to  their  cost  that  their  only  available  source  of  water  sup- 
ply is  polluted  because  of  the  great  adjacent  population  and  have 
had  to  install  filter  beds.  Filtration  of  water  supply,  it  may  be 
remarked,  will  probably  be  necessary  very  soon  in  the  case  of 
most  cities  of  any  size. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  earliest  modern  efforts  to  this 
end,  which  were  those  undertaken  in  London,  Plymouth,  South- 
ampton and  Oxford  between  1283  and  1610,  were  public  under- 
takings. The  first  enterprise  of  this  nature  involving  extensive 
engineering  operations,  that  of  the  New  River  Company  for 
supplying  London,  was  carried  to  completion  in  1613  by  a  pri- 
vate company,  as  were  other  similar  undertakings  down  to  the 
nineteenth  century.17  After  the  year  1830  British  municipali- 
ties adopted  widely  the  policy  of  acquiring  or  constructing  as 
municipal  enterprises  the  supply  of  water.  The  policy  soon  be- 
came general  and  more  ambitious  projects  were  undertaken  in- 
volving the  bringing  of  water  long  distances  ranging  up  to  a 

17  Fairlie,  "Municipal  Administration,"  p.  272. 


374  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

hundred  miles  from  the  mountains  of  Wales,  of  northern  Eng- 
land or  from  the  Scottish  Highlands. 

Upon  the  continent  public  water  supplies  worthy  of  the  name 
scarcely  existed  before  the  nineteenth  century,  but  after  1850 
the  larger  cities,  particularly  in  Germany  and  more  recently  in 
Italy,  'began  to  construct  important  waterworks  systems  which 
were  in  most  cases  under  public  auspices. 

In  the  United  States,  before  1830,  outside  of  Boston,  public 
water  supplies  were  restricted  to  the  town  pump  or  to  that  fur- 
nished by  small  private  companies.  Down  to  1835,  Philadelphia 
was  the  only  city  possessing  a  publicly  owned  waterworks,  though 
after  that  date  the  number  increased  rapidly.  The  famous 
Croton  aqueduct  for  New  York  was  completed  in  1842.18  Most 
conspicuous  among  the  recent  municipal  water  supply  under- 
takings in  the  United  States  are  those  constructed  by  New  York 
City  and  Los  Angeles.  The  New  York  aqueduct  begun  in  1907 
brings  water  from  a  great  reservoir  one  hundred  and  ten  miles 
distant,  passing  through  mountains  and  beneath  the  Hudson 
river.  That  of  Los  Angeles  brings  water  from  an  even  more  re- 
mote source  over  two  hundred  miles  away  and  incidentally  de- 
velops power  sufficient  to  supply  all  public  demands  with  a  sur- 
plus for  sale  to  private  consumers.  There  has  been  a  constant 
tendency  for  cities  in  this  country  to  undertake  the  supply  of 
water  as  a  municipal  enterprise,  though  many  smaller  cities  are 
supplied  by  privately  owned  plants.  Of  the  larger  cities  few  are 
supplied  from  private  works.  Indianapolis  is  the  largest  city 
supplied  exclusively  from  such  a  source. 

Gas  and  Electricity.  The  lighting  of  the  streets  was  recognized 
as  desirable  as  a  police  measure  by  several  of  the  larger  European 
cities  before  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century.  About  1765, 
oil  lamps  were  substituted  for  candles  in  the  street  lanterns  which 
were  everywhere  the  sole  means  of  public  lighting.  The  dis- 
covery of  gas  as  an  illuminant,  however,  opened  a  new  era  in 
lighting.  Beginning  at  Manchester  about  1800,  the  use  of  gas 
for  street  illumination  spread  in  the  first  quarter  of  the  century 
to  a  number  of  the  larger  cities  of  Great  Britain  and  the  conti- 

is  Fairlie,  "Municipal  Administration,"  p.  273. 


LOCAL  IMPROVEMENTS  375 

nent,  and  in  1816  to  Baltimore.  By  the  middle  of  the  century 
the  use  of  gas  had  become  common  in  all  cities.  It  was,  in  the 
earlier  years,  invariably  supplied  by  private  companies  which 
soon  began  to  furnish  it  also  for  interior  lighting  in  houses  and 
public  buildings.  The  first  municipal  plant  was  that  at  Man- 
chester, England,  established  in  1824.19  The  number  of  munici- 
pally owned  gas  works  increased  rapidly  in  Europe  so  that  in 
Great  Britain  at  the  present  time  about  one-half  of  the  plants 
are  owned  and  operated  by  the  municipality.  In  the  cities  of 
the  United  States  gas  works  have  not  usually  been  owned  by  the 
city  except  in  some  of  the  smaller  places.  But  few  of  the  larger 
cities  have  owned  plants  and  the  largest  of  these,  Philadelphia, 
has  leased  its  plant  to  a  private  company.  The  introduction  of 
cheap  natural  gas  for  the  cities  within  reach  of  the  gas  fields  led 
to  its  wider  use  for  domestic  purposes  of  cooking  and  heating. 

The  practical  use  of  electricity  for  public  lighting  by  the 
arc  light  dates  from  1880.  The  use  of  the  incandescent  light 
came  six  years  later.  The  number  of  electric  light  plants  in- 
creased so  rapidly  that  gas  seemed  about  to  be  superseded  by  elec- 
tricity everywhere.  The  invention  of  the  "Welsbach  mantle 
about  1890  checked  this  tendency,  and  subsequent  improvements 
in  both  sources  of  light  have  resulted  in  a  brisk  competition  for 
popular  favor.  As  in  the  case  of  gas,  a  large  number  of  small 
towns  furnish  their  own  electricity  for  public  and  private  use, 
and  the  number  of  public  lighting  stations  is  increasing  more 
rapidly  than  that  of  private  ones.  In  the  larger  cities  the  elec- 
tric plants  are  in  a  very  large  majority  of  instances  in  private 
hands.  Among  the  largest  and  most  successful  of  the  municipal 
plants  are  those  in  Chicago,  Seattle  and  Cleveland. 

The  widespread  use  of  water  power  as  a  cheap  means  for  the 
generation  of  electricity  in  both  municipal  and  private  plants  has 
given  impetus  to  the  use  of  electricity  for  both  light  and  power. 
The  Chicago  and  Seattle  plants  are  water-driven.  Develop- 
ments in  the  transmission  of  electricity  at  high  voltage  over  long 
distances  have  done  much  to  furnish  widely  scattered  towns  with 
that  form  of  energy  developed  by  water-power.  The  low  price 

10  Fairlie,  "Municipal  Administration,"  pp.  280  et  seq. 


376  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

at  which  plants,  public  and  private,  have  been  able  to  supply  elec- 
tricity has  led  to  its  wide  adoption  as  a  source  of  power  by 
manufacturers  in  cities.  The  only  electrical  developments  for 
municipal  purposes  comparable  to  those  in  the  United  States  are 
to  be  found  in  Canada  and  Switzerland. 

Transportation.  The  first  public  urban  transportation  lines 
attempting  to  maintain  a  regular  schedule  were  the  omnibus  lines 
in  Paris  and  London  which  began  operations  just  before  1830. 
The  first  street  railway  line  to  be  put  in  operation  was  in  New 
York  in  1852.20  Within  twenty  years  horse  cars  were  upon 
rails  in  the  streets  of  all  the  larger  American  cities.  In  Europe 
tramways,  as  they  are  there  called,  were  rarely  found  before 
1870.  In  the  larger  American  cities  the  street  railway  service 
was  usually  performed  by  a  number  of  independent  lines,  but 
after  1880  there  was  a  general  movement  toward  consolidation 
under  a  single  company  in  each  city.  The  substitution  of  electric 
for  horsepower,  first  made  practical  in  Germany  about  1881, 
and  in  the  United  States  in  1884,  became  general  after  1890. 
The  immediate  result  was  an  enormous  expansion  both  of  the 
number  of  lines  and  the  amount  of  traffic  borne.  European  cities 
as  a  rule  have  lingered  far  behind  those  of  America  both  in 
mileage  and  traffic.  New  York  led  the  way  in  1870  in  the  intro- 
duction of  the  elevated  railway.  The  Metropolitan  in  London 
was  the  pioneer  among  underground  railways  and  was  followed 
by  the  Metropolitan  in  Paris.  Boston  initiated  underground 
transportation  in  the  United  States  in  her  subway  completed  in 
1897.  The  subway  system  of  New  York,  opened  in  1904  and  still 
in  process  of  large  extension,  has  been  the  most  important  under- 
taking in  urban  transportation  in  the  present  century. 

Like  other  public  utilities,  street  railways  were  at  first  built 
and  operated  by  private  enterprise.  In  Great  Britain  municipal 
construction  began  soon  after  1870  and  has  persisted  until  half 
the  total  mileage  in  the  country  is  under  public  ownership.  The 
same  course  was  pursued  in  Toronto,  Melbourne  and  several  of 
the  continental  cities.  Since  1893  there  has  been  a  rather  rapid 
increase  in  the  number  of  British  cities  which  have  taken  over 

20  Fairlie,  "Municipal  Administration,"  pp.  291  et  seq. 


LOCAL  IMPROVEMENTS  377 

the  operation  of  the  roads  but  elsewhere  in  Europe  the  tendency 
is  less  marked.  For  many  years  the  Brooklyn  bridge  railroad 
was  the  sole  example  of  a  municipally  owned  and  operated  rail- 
way in  the  United  States,  but  since  1898  it  has  been  operated  by 
a  private  corporation.  Since  the  opening  of  the  Boston  subway 
an  elevated  and  subway  system  has  been  developed  in  that  city 
under  municipal  ownership.  The  original  municipally  owned 
subway  of  New  York  has,  by  a  partnership  arrangement  with  a 
private  corporation,  been  extended  to  form  a  great  system  of  sub- 
way and  elevated  roads  operated  under  private  management. 
Municipally  owned  subways  are  at  present  projected  or  under 
construction  in  several  American  cities.  The  ownership  and  op- 
eration of  surface  railways  by  the  city  has  been  widely  agitated 
in  this  country  in  recent  years  and  in  Detroit  steps  have  actually 
been  taken  to  that  end,  but  at  the  present  time  the  only  munici- 
pal street  railway  of  substantial  importance  is  that  of  San 
Francisco.  At  present  this  serves  only  a  part  of  the  city,  but 
the  whole  of  the  street  railway  service  of  the  city  bids  fair  to 
come  under  municipal  ownership  in  the  no  distant  future. 

Docks  and  Terminals.  Outside  the  United  States  the  construc- 
tion of  harbors  and  docks  has  been  regarded  as  a  municipal  enter- 
prise to  be  undertaken  by  cities  singly  or  in  groups.  In  the 
United  States,  however,  the  work  of  harbor  dredging  has  been 
primarily  the  work  of  the  Federal  government  though  some- 
times carried  on  jointly  with  a  state  or  city.  The  docks  and  har- 
bor improvements  on  the  Clyde  at  Glasgow,  the  Mersey  at  Liver- 
pool, the  Thames  at  London,  the  Scheldt  at  Antwerp,  the  Elbe  at 
Hamburg  and  the  Manchester  ship  canal  are  all  notable  examples 
of  this  sort.  Docks  and  railway  terminals  in  America  have  been 
until  within  a  few  years  in  private  hands  and  unregulated  except 
as  they  were  parts  of  a  railway  system.  New  York  has,  however, 
for  fifty  years  owned  a  system  of  docks  operated  as  a  public 
utility.  Within  the  present  century  the  importance  of  adequate 
docking  facilities  has  come  to  be  more  fully  realized.  Extensive 
additions  have  been  made  to  the  New  York  dock  system  and  large 
works  of  a  similar  character  have  been  undertaken  wholly  or  in 
part  by  the  municipality  in  New  Orleans,  Seattle,  Los  Angeles, 


378  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

Boston,  and  San  Francisco.  The  providing  of  rail  terminals 
aside  from  those  forming  part  of  a  dock  system  is  still  left  to 
the  initiative  of  the  railroad  companies. 

Organization  of  Public  Works  Authorities.  An  important  ques- 
tion in  connection  with  the  public  works  and  publicly  owned 
utilities  of  cities  is  the  method  of  the  organization  of  the  force 
which  is  to  be  responsible  for  the  custody  and  operation  of  these 
vital  undertakings.  In  countries  other  than  the  United  States 
the  authorities  in  charge  of  these  matters  are  usually  organized 
just  as  are  the  authorities  in  charge  of  other  branches  of  munic- 
ipal administration.  They  are  ordinarily  committees  or  boards 
composed  either  entirely,  as  in  England,  or  partly,  as  in  Prussia, 
of  members  of  the  council.  In  Prussia,  as  has  been  pointed 
out,  such  boards  have  as  a  member  a  permanent  professional 
expert  who  aids  although  he  cannot  control  the  board  in  its 
action.  In  England  the  committee  usually  has,  subordinate  to 
it,  an  expert,  who  has  a  practically  permanent  position  and 
to  whose  opinion  the  committee  must  in  the  nature  of  things  de- 
fer in  most  if  not  in  all  matters.  But  this  expert  is  distinctly  a 
subordinate  and  not  a  member  of  the  board.  In  both  England 
and  Germany  each  one  of  the  various  branches  of  public  works  is 
usually  under  the  immediate  control  of  a  special  authority.  The 
fact  that  in  both  countries  each  of  these  authorities  acts  under 
the  control  of  the  principal  city  authority  is  supposed  to  pre- 
vent conflicts  of  jurisdiction.  But  these  conflicts  do  sometimes 
occur.  Thus  in  Glasgow  some  of  the  committees  have  prose- 
cuted in  the  criminal  courts  the  subordinates  of  other  commit- 
tees. In  Italy  a  special  organization  is  provided  by  the  law  for 
the  authorities  in  charge  of  the  operation  of  each  public  utility. 

In  the  United  States,  however,  there  is  no  recognized  method 
of  organizing  the  authorities  at  the  head  of  the  matters  which 
have  been  classified  as  public  works.  A  method  which  has  found 
favor  in  many  cities  of  moderate  size  is  to  place  a  number  of 
these  public  works,  particularly  where  they  have  a  close  con- 
nection with  the  streets,  under  the  control  of  one  authority  such 
as  a  board  or  director  of  public  works.  This  has  been  done 
with  the  idea  of  securing  harmony  of  administration  in  such 
matters  as  streets,  sewers  and  water  supply.  Where  such  con- 


LOCAL  IMPROVEMENTS  379 

solidation  has  not  been  made,  it  sometimes  happens  that  just 
after  a  street  has  been  paved  it  has  to  be  torn  up  to  permit 
of  the  construction  of  a  sewer  or  the  laying  of  a  water  pipe.  In 
other  cases,  particularly  in  the  larger  cities,  where  the  work  of 
each  of  the  departments  has  increased  greatly  in  amount,  it  has 
seemed  best  to  provide  separate  authorities  for  each  of  the  dif- 
ferent kinds  of  public  work,  while  in  one  at  least,  i.e.,  New 
York,  under  the  charter  of  1901,  most  of  the  public  works,  with 
the  exception  of  the  water  supply,  are  placed  in  the  charge  of 
the  presidents  of  the  five  boroughs  into  which  the  city  was 
divided.  Under  such  an  arrangement  the  several  departments 
of  public  works  were  decentralized  rather  than  disintegrated. 
This  arrangement  is,  however,  peculiar  to  the  metropolis. 

No  conclusion,  further,  has  been  reached  in  the  United  States 
as  to  the  form  which  shall  be  given  to  the  authority  which  is  at 
the  head  of  either  a  general  department  of  public  works  or  the 
special  departments  such  as  for  streets,  sewers  and  water  supply, 
for  which  provision  may  be  made.  Sometimes  we  find  boards; 
sometimes  we  find  single  commissioners.  Sometimes  the  mem- 
bers of  the  boards  or  the  commissioners  are  appointed  by  the 
mayor  and  council ;  sometimes  they  are  elected  by  the  council  or 
the  people.  Sometimes  they  have  fixed  terms;  sometimes  they 
may  be  removed  by  the  mayor.  It  is  frequently  the  case,  how- 
ever, that  the  head  of  the  department  of  public  works  has  a 
tenure  of  office  which  makes  him  independent  of  either  the  mayor 
or  the  council.  Under  any  of  these  plans  the  office  is  usually 
political,  the  term  short,  changes  in  incumbency  frequent  and  no 
serious  attempt  made  to  place  this  technical  administrative  posi- 
tion upon  a  professional  basis. 

Ad  hoc  Authorities.  These  municipal  activities  are  ordinarily 
placed  under  the  control  of  some  branch  of  the  city  administra- 
tion, but  there  are  cases  where,  for  one  reason  or  another,  there 
are  formed  for  the  management  of  particular  kinds  of  public 
works  what  the  English  speak  of  as  ad  hoc  corporations,  which 
are  distinct  from  the  ordinary  city  corporation.  Such  an  ar- 
rangement is  quite  common  in  Great  Britain,  where  special 
trusts  have  been  formed  for  the  management  of  docks,  as  in 
Liverpool,  or  for  the  improvement  of  the  navigation  of  a  par- 


380  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

ticular  river  in  which  some  one  city  is  specially  interested. 
This  is  the  case,  for  example,  with  the  Thames  as  far  inland  as 
London,  with  the  Tyne  at  Newcastle,  and  the  Clyde  at  Glas- 
gow. These  boards  or  trusts,  as  they  are  commonly  called,  while 
containing  representatives  of  the  city  which  is  particularly  in- 
terested in  the  work  they  are  doing,  have  as  well  in  their  mem- 
bership representatives  of  other  localities  or  interests.  Thus, 
the  trustees  of  the  Clyde  Navigation  Trust,  as  organized  by  the 
act  of  1858,  are  the  Lord  Provost  (Mayor)  of  Glasgow,  chair- 
man, nine  persons  elected  by  the  Glasgow  council,  two  each  by 
the  Merchants'  House,  the  Chamber  and  the  Trades  House,  and 
nine  elected  by  an  electoral  body  of  shipowners  and  harbor  rate- 
payers. These  are  shipowners  of  ships  to  the  amount  of  100 
tons  registered  in  the  port  of  Glasgow  and  persons  who  pay  at 
least  ten  pounds  yearly  rates  to  the  Clyde  Trust. 

Somewhat  similar  arrangements  have  been  made  in  the  United 
States,  particularly  in  cases  where  cities  have  entered  the  field  of 
municipal  ownership  and  operation  of  public  utilities  or  have 
undertaken  other  functions  which  demand  the  investment  of 
large  amounts  of  capital.  Examples  may  be  found  in  the  former 
gas  trust  of  Philadelphia  and  the  present  gas  trust  of  Wheeling. 
Sometimes  the  narrow  limits  placed  upon  the  borrowing  power  of 
our  cities  have  led  in  the  case  of  productive  utilities  to  resort  to 
the  device  of  a  holding  company  through  which  the  plant  is  built 
and  operated  in  the  interests  of  the  city. 

Sometimes  in  cases  where  a  particular  improvement  concerns 
more  than  one  municipality  or  affects  the  interests  of  the  state 
as  a  whole  the  undertaking  is  assumed  by  the  state  alone  or  in 
conjunction  with  the  city  or  a  group  of  municipalities.  This  is 
especially  true  of  water  and  sewer  undertakings.  Examples  of 
this  kind  are  the  reservoir  system  from  which  Boston  and  the 
neighboring  communities  draw  their  water  supply,  and  the  sys- 
tem of  trunk  sewers  which  serves  approximately  the  same  area. 
These  services  are  under  the  control  of  a  "Metropolitan  Water 
and  Sewerage  Commission"  appointed  by  the  governor  of  the 
commonwealth.  The  extensive  dock  improvements  at  San  Fran- 
cisco and  at  New  Orleans  are  administered  by  state  authorities. 


LOCAL  IMPROVEMENTS  381 

Whenever  the  social  expansion  of  the  city  outruns  its  cor- 
porate extension  such  forms  of  control  are  likely  to  appear.  To 
what  an  extent  social  interests  may  suffer  when  the  organization 
provided  for  such  enterprises  is  based  on  an  arbitrary  political 
foundation  which  is  narrower  than  the  social  group  affected  may 
be  observed  in  London.  London,  it  will  be  remembered,  is  di- 
vided into  twenty-nine  districts,  called  for  the  most  part  metro- 
politan boroughs.  All  of  these  boroughs  have  under  the  law 
the  right  either  to  grant  electric  light  franchises  or  themselves  to 
operate  electric  light  plants.  Some  of  them  have  such  plants. 
As  these  authorities  may  not  operate  outside  of  their  districts,  a 
large  central  electric  plant  is  impossible  of  establishment  under 
the  present  law,  and  the  interests  of  the  great  social  group  rep- 
resented by  metropolitan  London  are  sacrificed  because  of  the 
possession  by  the  petty  local  authorities  of  powers  which  they 
cannot  exercise  to  advantage.  Apart,  however,  from  these  cases, 
where  social  interests  transcend  the  limits  of  cities,  public  works 
as  well  as  publicly  owned  utilities  are  usually  attended  to  by  the 
city  corporation  or  by  an  ad  hoc  authority. 

Public  Utilities  and  the  Public.  It  will  have  been  observed  to 
be  the  history  of  public  utility  enterprises  that  their  inception 
and  earlier  development  have  been  quite  generally  under  private 
auspices  and  that  when  public  ownership  appears  it  is  at  a  later 
stage.  The  most  notable  exceptions  are  those  activities  entrusted 
to  the  earlier  ad  hoc  authorities  in  England  or  those  in  which  the 
utility  has  been  first  undertaken  at  a  recent  date.  Two  causes 
seem  to  have  contributed  to  determine  the  original  policy  of 
private  ownership  of  these  utilities.  First:  The  earlier  needs 
which  are  served  by  public  utilities  came  into  being  at  a  time 
when  the  city  was  looked  upon  as  a  mere  administrative  district 
of  the  state  rather  than  an  instrumentality  for  the  satisfaction  of 
local  needs.  Consequently  such  matters  were  not  considered  to 
be  within  the  province  of  the  city,  nor  was  there  any  place  in  the 
governmental  organization  for  the  conduct  of  business  enter- 
prises. Second :  It  happened,  further,  that  these  problems  pre- 
sented themselves  at  a  time  when  governmental  activity  was 
throttled  by  the  dominance  of  ideas  of  laissez  faire;  when  gov- 


382  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

eminent  was  held  to  have  performed  its  whole  duty  when  it  had 
protected  its  citizens  from  violence  and  had  administered  justice 
among  them. 

The  public,  eager  for  improvements,  received  with  open  arms 
the  promoters  of  these  early  enterprises,  bestowing  upon  them 
favors  with  lavish  hand,  even,  the  benefit  of  the  public  credit,  and 
demanding  in  return  nothing  but  the  promise  of  the  satisfaction 
of  a  pressing  need.  That  valuable  privileges  were  being  con- 
ferred and  social  rights  abdicated  without  assurance  of  adequate 
return  was  not  realized.  In  fact  the  potential  values  granted 
were  unperceived  even  by  the  recipients. 

It  was  speedily  discovered  that  the  great  weakness  of  the  un- 
controlled private  operation  of  the  utilities  was  that  they  were 
like  any  other  private  enterprise,  operated  for  private  profit  and 
without  regard  for  social  needs.  The  temptation  was  irresistible 
on  the  part  of  the  utility  corporation  to  economize  upon  the 
quality  of  service  rendered  while  imposing  the  highest  rates  the 
traffic  would  bear.  The  public  in  course  of  time,  though  but 
slowly,  perceived  that  here  were  -forces  whose  natural  tendencies 
must  be  checked.  The  first  means  of  placing  a  control  upon 
these  agencies  whose  services  were  becoming  a  vital  necessity  of 
urban  life  was  through  their  franchises. 

Public  Utility  Franchises.  A  condition  precedent  to  the  opera- 
tion of  a  public  utility  is  the  privilege  to  make  use  of  the  public 
streets  and  other  public  places  with  pipes,  poles,  wires,  conduits, 
tracks  or  other  appurtenances  for  the  rendering  of  the  service  in 
question.  The  contract  by  which  persons  or  corporations  secure 
the  right  to  use  the  streets  in  distributing  to  consumers  the  serv- 
ice or  commodity  supplied  is  known  as  their  franchise. 

Public  utilities  have  been  undertaken  almost  universally  by 
corporations,  which  were  formerly  universally  in  the  United 
States  created  by  special  charters  granted  as  special  acts  of  the 
legislature.  In  these  acts  of  incorporation  it  was  customary  to 
embody  the  right  to  use  the  streets  without  any  pretense  of  safe- 
guards for  the  interests  of  the  city  which  might  be  involved. 
Moreover,  when  in  the  progress  of  the  adjustment  of  relations 
with  the  city  the  company  failed  to  obtain  what  it  desired  from 
the  municipality  it  would  sometimes  secure  its  aims  by  legisla- 


LOCAL  IMPROVEMENTS  383 

tive  action  though  they  might  be  distinctly  subversive  of  local 
public  interests.  The  many  abuses  of  this  kind  led  to  the  prohi- 
bition in  many  states  of  grants  of  rights  in  city  streets  without 
the  consent  of  the  local  authorities.  With  the  weapon  thus 
placed  within  their  reach  communities  sought  to  protect  their 
own  interests.  Even  though  in  the  first  franchises  thus  brought 
under  local  control  the  terms  were  broad  and  the  obligations 
imposed  imperfectly  guarded,  the  public  has  gradually  learned 
in  some  measure  to  fortify  its  position  against  the  utility 
corporations. 

Elements  of  a  Franchise.  Out  of  the  experience  of  munic- 
ipalities there  has  developed  a  substantial  agreement  among 
students  and  men  of  affairs  concerning  the  essential  points  to 
be  covered  in  a  model  franchise  as  well  as  some  conclusions 
regarding  terms  proper  to  be  insisted  on  by  the  city.  The 
franchise  should  contain  stipulations  covering:  duration,  com- 
pensation, rates,  service,  reversion,  finance  and  labor  conditions 
and  perhaps  others.  Some  of  these  will  now  be  considered.21 

Duration  of  Franchise.  The  first  gas  franchises  granted  in 
England  were  generally  broad  in  terms  and  unlimited  in  dura- 
tion. When,  after  a  time,  the  city  of  Birmingham  wanted  to 
take  over  the  local  gas  plant  it  was  found  that  the  city  must 
pay  for  the  works  as  a  going  concern,  that  is,  not  only  for  the 
value  of  the  physical  plant  but  for  the  good  will  or  franchise. 
The  payment  which  it  had  to  make  was  so  large  as  to  convince 
Parliament  of  the  inexpediency  of  granting  franchises  in  per- 
petuity. Therefore,  when  provision  was  made  for  the  granting 
of  electric  light  and  tramway  franchises  the  laws  passed  limited 
the  franchises  to  twenty-one  years.  This  period  proved  to  be 
too  short  in  the  case  of  the  electric  light  companies,  and  was 
later  lengthened  to  forty-two  years.  Before  the  expiration  of 
the  franchise  period  it  was  discovered  that  the  tramway  service 
might  be  vastly  improved  by  the  introduction  of  electricity 
in  place  of  horse  power.  As  a  general  thing  the  companies 
refused  to  electrify  their  roads.  The  grounds  taken  were  that 
since  at  the  expiration  of  the  franchises  they  were  entitled  merely 

21  King,  "Regulation  of  Municipal  Utilities,"  pp.  81  et  seq.;  Wilcox, 
"Municipal  Franchises,"  Chap.  III. 


384  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

to  the  value  of  the  plant  as  it  should  then  stand,  the  unexpired 
term  was  too  short  to  justify  the  necessary  expense.  The  con- 
sequence was  that  the  people  of  the  cities  had  a  poor  transporta- 
tion service,  poor  at  any  rate  as  compared  with  the  existing 
state  of  the  art  of  transportation.  In  Germany  and  elsewhere  on 
the  continent  the  rights  of  the  public  were  more  carefully  pro- 
tected. In  Berlin  the  gas  franchise  granted  in  1825  was  limited 
to  twenty-one  years.  In  Paris  the  first  franchise  of  fifteen 
years  was  later  extended  to  fifty  years. 

There  was,  in  some  instances  in  the  United  States,  a  disposi- 
tion to  protect  the  interests  of  the  city  by  limiting  the  duration 
of  franchises.  The  wisdom  shown  by  the  city  of  New  York 
in  this  respect  with  regard  to  street  railway  franchises  was 
made  of  no  avail  by  the  courts  and  legislature  of  the  state.  The 
courts  held  that  under  the  law  of  the  state  cities  did  not  have  the 
right  to  grant  the  street  railway  franchises  and  interpreted  the 
statutes  passed  afterwards  to  legalize  the  position  of  the  street 
railway  companies  occupying  the  streets  under  the  illegal  grants 
of  the  city  authorities,  in  such  a  way  as  to  recognize  that  these 
companies  had  perpetual  franchises  which  were  not  capable  of 
resumption  by  the  city.  In  these  ways  it  would  appear  that 
the  policy  of  perpetual  franchises  was  adopted  in  New  York 
city.  At  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  the  New  York  charter  of 
1897  this  policy  was  abandoned  for  one  of  franchises  of  limited 
duration.  Elsewhere  franchises  were  dispensed  with  lavish 
hand  and  Denver  went  so  far  in  1880  as  to  admit  by  a  general 
resolution  all  who  wished  to  engage  in  supplying  electric  lights.22 
Throughout  the  middle-west  franchises  of  fixed  duration  but 
rather  short  have  been  the  rule.  It  has  been  found  that  the 
proper  duration  of  the  franchise  varies  with  the  utility  and  the 
character  of  the  city,  but  that  limits  may  perhaps  be  set  at  from 
twenty-five  to  fifty  years.  In  Massachusetts  first  but  later  in 
some  other  states  instead  of  granting  franchises  of  a  fixed  dura- 
tion, an  indeterminate  permit  was  granted,  revocable  by  the 
city  at  will  whenever  it  was  found  that  the  company  was  not 
serving  the  public  interest. 

22  King,  "Regulation  of  Municipal  Utilities,"  p.  80. 


LOCAL  IMPROVEMENTS  385 

Utility  Rates.  It  is  natural  that  the  question  of  the  rates  to 
be  charged  by  utility  companies  should  appeal  more  directly 
to  the  average  citizen  than  that  of  the  duration  of  the  franchise 
and  that  rate  regulation  should  be  more  insistently  demanded. 
The  public  has  a  right  to  demand  reasonable  service  at  a  reason- 
able rate,  i.e.,  at  a  rate  which  shall  permit  the  proper  main- 
tenance of  the  plant  and  a  fair  return  on  the  investment.  The 
determining  of  what  is  a  reasonable  rate  in  the  presence  of  all 
the  interests  involved  is  not  an  easy  matter. 

The  rate-fixing  power  which  rests  primarily  with  the  legisla- 
ture may  be  exercised  by  that  body  itself  or  it  may  be  delegated 
to  an  administrative  body  or  to  the  city.  The  legislature  no 
longer  attempts  to  fix  rates  itself  but,  having  decreed  that  they 
shall  be  reasonable,  leaves  the  determination  of  the  rate  itself 
to  a  utility  commission  or  the  city.  Whichever  method  is  fol- 
lowed, the  rate  must  not  be  such  as  to  result  in  the  impairment 
of  a  contract  or  to  deprive  the  company  of  its  property  through 
fixing  it  so  low  as  to  make  impossible  a  reasonable  return  on 
the  actual  investment.  It  has  been  held  that  if  a  city  is  author- 
ized to  fix  by  agreement  with  the  company  the  rate  to  be  charged, 
a  provision  in  a  franchise  for  a  term  of  years  which  authorizes 
a  stated  maximum  rate  constitutes  a  contract  and  that  any 
attempt  on  the  part  of  the  city  to  change  the  rate  during  the 
franchise  term  will  impair  the  obligation  of  that  contract.  The 
rate-making  power  is  held  to  be  a  part  of  the  police  power  of  the 
state  which  cannot  be  contracted  away  by  the  state.  Hence  it 
has  been  held  that  a  contract  is  not  created  when  the  legislature 
grants  a  perpetual  franchise  in  which  a  company  has  been  per- 
mitted to  charge  a  certain  rate,  but  such  rate  may  be  changed 
as  a  police  measure.  Likewise  a  city  to  which  has  been  given 
the  power  of  utility  regulation  cannot  without  express  grant 
from  the  legislature  contract  away  the  authority  to  modify 
as  a  public  measure  a  rate  granted  in  a  franchise. 

While  maintaining  the  principle  prohibiting  the  imposing  of  a 
rate  so  low  as  to  deprive  the  company  of  its  property,  the 
courts  have  refused  to  lay  down  any  general  rule  as  to  what 
is  a  reasonable  return  and  as  to  what  property  is  entitled  to 
receive  a  reasonable  return.  They  have  preferred  to  base  each 


386  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

decision  on  the  peculiar  facts  presented  in  that  case.  A  suc- 
cession of  decisions  has  gone  some  distance  toward  determining 
what  property  of  the  company  is  entitled  to  be  taken  into  con- 
sideration in  determining  a  reasonable  rate.  As  a  means  of 
capitalizing  the  increased  returns  due  to  the  growth  of  the  city 
the  franchise  has  a  real  and  sometimes  a  very  great  value,  but 
upon  the  question  of  how  far  such  value  should  be  taken  into 
consideration  in  determining  a  reasonable  rate  is  not  well  settled. 

A  method  of  regulating  rates  somewhat  automatically,  known 
as  the  "sliding  scale"  method,  has  been  used  with  success,  not- 
ably with  respect  to  gas  in  Boston,  and  to  street  car  fares  in 
Cleveland.  This  device  probably  originated  in  an  act  of  Parlia- 
ment which  attempted  to  regulate  the  South  Metropolitan  gas 
company  of  London.  Under  this  plan  a  valuation  of  the  prop- 
erty is  determined  upon,  and  a  standard  or  basing  price  and 
a  standard  dividend  rate  are  fixed.  Then  for  every  reduction 
in  the  price  to  consumers  the  company  is  permitted  to  make  a 
certain  increase  in  dividends.  In  Boston  the  standard  price 
of  gas  was  fixed  at  ninety  cents  per  thousand  and  the  standard 
dividend  rate  at  seven  per  cent.  For  every  reduction  of  five 
cents  in  the  price  the  dividend  rate  might  be  increased  one 
per  cent.  In  Cleveland  the  standard  fare  is  fixed  at  three  cents 
with  a  one  cent  transfer,  counterbalanced  by  a  fixed  normal  cash 
operating  balance  of  $500,000.  A  somewhat  similar  plan  has 
been  adopted  for  the  Chicago  street  railways.  In  that  case  any 
profit  above  a  fixed  rate  is  divided  in  a  fixed  ratio  between  the 
city  and  the  company,  and  the  city  may  elect  to  give  its  profits 
to  the  public  in  the  form  of  reduced  fares. 

Quality  of  Service.  Under  the  head  of  service  would  be  con- 
sidered quality  and  abundance  of  water,  frequency,  speed  and 
comfort  in  street  cars,  heating  and  lighting  units  in  gas  and 
volume  and  intensity  in  electric  current,  yet  definite  standards 
are  not  in  all  cases  and  for  all  conditions  easy  to  fix  in  a  fran- 
chise beyond  that  of  reasonableness.  Great  elaboration  has  some- 
times been  indulged  in  in  attempts  to  determine  in  advance  by 
legislation  or  franchise  such  standards  of  reasonableness. 

Utility  Finances.  The  public  interest  in  adequate  service  at 
reasonable  rates  may  be  promoted  by  stipulations  in  the  fran- 


LOCAL  IMPROVEMENTS  387 

chise  as  to  the  finances  of  the  utility  corporation.  A  common 
practice  in  the  establishment  of  a  utility  is  to  meet  the  entire  cost 
of  the  plant  through  the  sale  of  bonds,  and  to  issue  stock  which 
represents  only  promoters'  profits  and  "franchise  value"  as 
determined  by  the  prospective  increase  in  earning  capacity  of 
the  utility.  To  prevent  the  fact  of  the  existence  of  such  stock 
held  by  innocent  investors  becoming  an  obstacle  to  adequate 
service  or  the  basis  of  exaggerated  claims  upon  the  earning  power 
of  the  plant,  it  has  been  found  desirable  to  limit  the  issue  of 
securities  to  the  amount  of  cash  invested  in  the  business.  A 
failure  on  the  part  of  the  public  to  exercise  in  the  past  a  proper 
supervision  over  the  financial  operations  of  utility  corporations 
has  been  an  important  factor  in  bringing  about  the  tribulations 
which  have  beset  these  corporations  in  recent  years  of  mounting 
operating  costs  and  high  interest  rates ;  tribulations  which  have 
been  reflected  in  the  country-wide  movement  on  the  part  of  the 
utilities  for  advances  in  rates  of  service. 

A  second  form  of  financial  control  is  the  regulation  •  of  the 
disposal  of  gross  revenues.  This  may  be  brought  about  by  pro- 
viding that  first  of  all  shall  be  met  all  operating  expenses,  in- 
cluding wages,  interest,  cost  of  power  and  materials,  insurance, 
taxes,  accident  fund,  franchise  payments  and  a  fund  for  main- 
tenance of  the  plant  at  a  fixed  percentage  of  its  first  cost.  Next 
may  be  set  aside  an  agreed  minimum  percentage  on  the  capital 
actually  invested  to  be  available  for  dividends. 

Keversion  of  the  Plant.  As  a  final  element  in  the  franchise 
and  one  to  which  especial  importance  attaches  from  the  present 
trend  toward  municipal  ownership,  there  may  be  inserted  a 
provision  for  the  reversion  of  the  plant  to  the  city.  If  there  has 
been  provided  an  amortisation  fund  which  shall  be  sufficient  to 
take  up  the  outstanding  securities  of  the  company  at  the  expi- 
ration of  the  franchise  term,  and  if  the  deterioration  of  the 
plant  has  been  guarded  against  by  the  requirement  of  a  main- 
tenance fund,  the  city  may  properly  stipulate  that  at  the  expira- 
tion of  the  franchise  the  plant  shall  revert  to  the  municipality. 
The  city  should  by  this  means  find  itself  in  possession  free  of 
cost  of  a  well  equipped  going  utility,  relieved  of  fixed  charges 
to  such  an  extent  that  the  citizens  may  be  rendered  a  maximum 


388  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

of  service  at  a  minimum  rate,  or  should  a  policy  of  private 
operation  be  preferred,  it  may  be  carried  out  under  a  new 
franchise  upon  terms  advantageous  alike  to  the  operating  com- 
pany and  to  the  public.  While  most  franchises  now  in  operation 
leave  much  to  be  desired  with  respect  to  some  or  all  of  the  ele- 
ments of  control  suggested  above,  there  have  been  decided  gains, 
and  it  is  inconceivable  that  the  old  prodigality  and  carelessness  in 
franchise  matters  should  again  prevail. 

Regulation  by  Commission.  As  a  first  step  in  the  regulation 
of  public  utility  companies  the  carefully  drawn  franchise  is  of 
prime  importance.  When  franchises  were  first  granted  and  for 
a  long  time  thereafter,  it  was  commonly  believed  that  the  public 
interest  could  best  be  protected  by  providing  for  competition 
between  companies  whenever  possible.  Inasmuch,  however,  as 
it  was  found  that  competing  companies  consolidated  whenever 
possible,  or  when  this  was  not  practicable,  entered  into  agree- 
ments and  combinations  under  which  competition  was  impossi- 
ble, it  came  to  be  recognized  that  a  regime  of  monopoly  was 
inevitable.  A  result  was  the  appearance  of  statutes,  not  to 
preserve  competition,  but  to  regulate  monopoly.  It  was  at  first 
assumed  that  franchise  provisions,  regulatory  statutes,  and  the 
rights  of  persons  at  common  law  could  be  enforced  through  suits 
at  law  brought  by  private  individuals  or  by  the  city.  With  the 
growth  in  complexity  and  technicality  of  the  questions  arising 
incident  to  utility  regulation  it  has  become  evident  that  the 
courts  are  possessed  of  neither  the  training,  the  information  nor 
the  means  of  securing  information  to  enable  them  adequately 
to  perform  this  function,  and  that  as  a  means  of  securing  relief 
against  acts  or  conditions  for  which  utility  corporations  are 
responsible,  suits  at  law  are  too  slow  and  expensive.  The  courts, 
too,  take  cognizance  of  acts  already  committed,  and  with  respect 
to  the  future  they  act  only  in  a  negative  rather  than  in  a  posi- 
tive and  constructive  way.  In  fact,  it  was  perceived  that  the 
function  in  question  is  administrative  rather  than  judicial  in 
character.  Hence,  experience  has  shown  that  as  in  other  fields 
where  the  individual  invasions  of  private  rights  are  slight  but 
where  when  taken  together  they  constitute  a  serious  subversion 
of  public  rights  the  only  adequate  method  of  regulation  is 


LOCAL  IMPROVEMENTS  389 

through  an  administrative  authority  specifically  charged  with 
that  duty.  There  has  consequently  come  into  being  the  ''public 
service"  or  "public  utility"  commissions  which  first  appeared 
in  their  present  form  in  1907  and  are  of  two  varieties,  state  and 
municipal.  The  state  commissions,  the  earliest  of  which  are 
those  of  Wisconsin  and  New  York,  are  essentially  the  older 
railroad  commissions  with  wider  jurisdiction  and  increased 
powers.  The  municipal  type  of  commission  originated  in  a 
statute  of  Missouri  of  the  year  1907,  under  which  Kansas  City 
and  St.  Louis  organized  commissions. 

An  active  controversy  has  developed  as  to  the  relative  desir- 
ability and  effectiveness  of  the  two  types  of  commission.  It  is 
pointed  out,  on  the  one  hand,  that  the  services  rendered  by 
public  utilities  are  no  longer  limited  by  municipal  boundaries  but 
have  become  inter-municipal  or  even  state-wide ;  that  the  regula- 
tion of  corporate  finance  and  accounting  is  beyond  the  proper 
field  of  municipal  control  and  that  only  the  largest  cities  could 
collect  the  voluminous  data  and  maintain  the  technical  staff 
necessary  to  intelligent  regulation.  Though  the  trend  has,  in 
practice,  been  strongly  toward  control  by  state  commission,  it 
is  urged,  on  the  other  hand,  that  the  services  in  question  are 
primarily  local  in  character;  that  the  physical  appurtenances 
of  the  corporation  are  inseparably  connected  with  the  city 
streets ;  that  a  local  commission  will  be  more  fully  informed  as  to 
local  conditions  and  needs  and  will  be  less  susceptible  to  cor- 
porate domination,  and  that  the  creation  of  such  a  state  com- 
mission is  an  unnecessary  encroachment  on  the  principle  of  local 
self-government.  The  conclusions  of  unprejudiced  authorities 
seem  to  point  to  an  ultimate  solution  which  shall  leave  place  for 
the  existence  side  by  side  of  both  state  and  local  commissions. 
According  to  this  solution  the  state  body  would  regulate  espe- 
cially corporate  finances  and  accounting  and  safety  provisions; 
the  local  commission  would  control  in  questions  affecting  service, 
and  the  use  of  the  streets,  while  still  other  matters  including 
rate  adjustment  would  be  left  for  cooperation  between  the  two 
authorities. 

Growth  of  Municipal  Ownership.  It  has  been  observed  that 
the  beginnings  of  the  various  public  utilities  were  made  under 


390  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT     . 

private  auspices  for  reasons  both  practical  and  theoretical:  be- 
cause of  inadequate  governmental  machinery  for  their  public 
operation,  and  because  of  the  prevailing  individualistic  notions 
of  the  times.  The  nineteenth  century,  however,  saw  such  an 
improvement  in  governmental  organization  and  revealed  so 
many  weaknesses  in  private  management,  that  the  field  of  gov- 
ernmental operation  has  been  extended  to  include  not  alone  mat- 
ters which  formerly  were  attended  to  through  the  process  of  con- 
tracting with  private  individuals,  but  also  matters  which  until 
recently  have  received  no  attention  at  all. 

In  Great  Britain  to  a  far  greater  extent  than  in  the  United 
States  have  the  early  obstacles  been  overcome  and  a  policy  of 
municipal  ownership  adopted.  In  the  former  country,  as  has 
been  noted,  municipal  water-works  became  common  soon  after 
1830  and  by  the  close  of  the  century  the  water  supply  in  five- 
sixths  of  the  larger  boroughs  was  in  public  hands.  The  trend 
toward  municipal  ownership  of  gas-works  followed  that  seen  in 
the  case  of  water-works,  but  with  less  rapidity.  The  opening  of 
the  twentieth  century  saw  the  gas  plants  of  about  one-half  of  the 
larger  boroughs  under  municipal  operation.  In  the  smaller 
towns  the  private  exceeded  the  public  plants  in  number  by  two 
to  one. 

Although  electric  light  plants,  public  and  private,  were  au- 
thorized in  England  in  1882,  it  was  not  until  after  1888  when 
additional  legislation  had  been  passed  that  either  private  or 
public  capital  entered  the  field  to  any  considerable  extent.  By 
this  late  date  the  terms  of  public  utility  franchises  had  become 
so  strict  that  quite  as  many  public  as  private  electric  light  plants 
were  established,  and  since  that  time  the  proportion  of  munic- 
ipally owned  plants  has  steadily  increased.  It  has  been  noted 
above  that  street  railways  developed  much  more  slowly  in  Eu- 
rope than  in  America.  The  poor  service  and  the  failure  of 
the  private  companies  to  electrify  their  lines  promptly  were 
potent  there  in  directing  municipal  opinion  toward  public  own- 
ership of  the  tramways.  Municipal  operation  may  scarcely  be 
said  to  have  begun  before  1893  or  to  have  made  conspicuous 
progress  before  1896.  Since  that  time  municipal  operation  has 
become  very  general  throughout  the  cities  of  the  United  Kingdom. 


LOCAL  IMPROVEMENTS  391 

On  the  continent  a  large  proportion  of  the  water  systems 
have,  since  1850,  come  into  public  ownership.  In  Germany 
most  of  the  gas  and  electric  plants  are  municipally  owned. 
Municipal  gas  plants  are  found  throughout  northern  Europe 
and  to  a  considerable  extent  in  Italy.  Municipal  electric  plants 
are  somewhat  less  common  in  northern  Europe.  In  the  Latin 
countries,  except  in  the  case  of  the  gas  plants  before  mentioned, 
publicly  owned  gas  and  electric  light  works  are  rare. 

In  the  United  States,  while  as  already  seen  the  original  water- 
works were  privately  owned,  they  are  now  almost  universally,  in 
the  larger  cities,  owned  by  the  municipality.  Certain  of  the 
municipal  water  systems,  like  those  of  New  York  and  Los 
Angeles,  rank  among  the  greatest  of  our  engineering  feats.  Gas 
and  electric  plants  are  not  in  the  United  States,  except  in  the 
smaller  cities,  publicly  owned  though  there  are  notable  excep- 
tions in  the  field  of  electric  lighting.  Though  municipal  owner- 
ship of  street  railways  has  been  widely  agitated  in  the  United 
States,  the  idea  has  not  as  yet  been  put  in  practice  to  any  great 
extent.  With  the  exception,  then,  of  water-works  and,  in  the 
smaller  cities,  of  electric  light  works,  it  may  be  said  that  munic- 
ipal ownership  has  not  become  general  in  the  United  States, 
and  that  though  the  current  is  setting  in  that  direction,  the 
effects  are  as  yet  far  less  noticeable  than  in  Europe.  In  Europe 
the  swing  in  that  direction  was  hastened  by  the  rigorous  provi- 
sions of  franchises  which  made  profits  small  and  retarded  im- 
provements. In  America  the  impulse  has  come  rather  from  the 
failure  to  establish  adequate  public  control  over  utilities  in  pri- 
vate hands.  The  importance  to  the  public  health  of  a  good  water 
supply  was  undoubtedly  the  chief  cause  of  the  overcoming  of,  in 
the  case  of  water-works,  the  intense  individualistic  opposition  to 
municipal  ownership  which  formerly  did  and  to  a  great  degree 
still  does  exist  in  the  United  States. 

A  study  of  the  history  of  municipal  public  utilities  and  the 
conditions  under  which  private  operation  has  given  and  is  giv- 
ing way  to  public  operation  can  hardly  fail  to  carry  conviction 
that  the  sphere  of  direct  municipal  action  is,  in  spite  of  opposi- 
tion, gradually  extending.  Just  as  the  reliance  upon  the  individ- 
ual property  owners  for  the  discharge  of  such  functions  as 


392  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

paving  and  sweeping  the  streets  has  given  way  to  public  action, 
so  has  the  supply  of  gas,  electricity  and  transportation  been 
transferred  from  the  individual  to  the  utility  corporation,  and 
now  seems  destined,  whether  for  good  or  ill,  to  be  transferred 
in  turn  to  direct  agencies  of  government. 

Comparison  of  Municipal  and  Private  Ownership.  When  we 
come  to  the  consideration  of  the  advantages  or  disadvantages  of 
municipal  as  compared  with  private  ownership  and  operation, 
it  is  difficult  if  not  impossible  to  give  a  general  answer,  which 
is  based  on  anything  more  than  a  priori  reasoning.  For  the  con- 
ditions in  different  countries  and  in  different  cities  in  the  same 
country  are  so  different  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  compare 
the  results  achieved.  In  countries  which  have  made  no  pro- 
vision for  an  effective  supervision  of  private  companies  we  may 
find  private  ownership  and  operation  accompanied  in  particular 
instances  by  extremely  bad  conditions  as  has  been  the  case  with 
the  street  railway  situation  in  Chicago  and  New  York.  On  the 
other  hand  we  may  find  in  a  country  like  Great  Britain,  which 
for  a  long  time  has  had  an  effective  system  of  control  over  private 
corporations,  instances  as  in  the  Sheffield  Gas  Company  and  the 
South  Metropolitan  Gas  Company  of  London,  of  extremely  satis- 
factory private  operation. 

Again,  we  may  find  in  a  country  like  the  United  States,  which 
has  not  developed  a  satisfactory  system  of  general  city  govern- 
ment, examples  of  extremely  inefficient  municipal  operation,  as 
e.  g.,  in  the  case  of  the  Philadelphia  Gas  Works,  while  in  a  coun- 
try like  Great  Britain  which  has  a  satisfactory  system  of  city 
government,  we  may  find  examples  of  very  satisfactory  munic- 
ipal operation  as  in  the  case  of  the  Glasgow  tramways,  to  cite 
only  one  instance. 

Furthermore,  a  comparison  of  good  municipal  plants  on  the 
one  hand  and  good  private  plants  on  the  other,  which  are  found 
in  the  same  country,  is  difficult,  since  the  policy  of  different 
cities  in  the  treatment  of  either  private  or  municipal  plants  may 
be  quite  different.  Thus  one  city  may  endeavor  to  make  the 
plant  a  source  of  profit  to  the  general  treasury  of  the  city  cor- 
poration, while  another  may  prefer  to  lower  the  price  of  the 
service  whereby  the  part  of  the  public  which  receives  the  service  is 


LOCAL  IMPROVEMENTS  393 

benefited.  Thus  a  comparison  of  the  mere  price  charged  for  the 
service  rendered  is  of  little  value  in  determining  the  relative 
advantages  of  private  and  municipal  ownership  and  operation. 

The  conditions  of  different  plants  are  so  difficult  of  comparison 
that  the  student  rises  from  a  study  of  the  question  with  more 
or  less  definite  impressions  which  he  might  have  in  some  cases 
considerable  difficulty  in  verifying  rather  than  with  clear  cut 
conclusions  based  upon  statistical  data.  It  would  seem,  however, 
that,  on  the  whole,  good  and  efficient  municipal  ownership  and 
operation  are  perfectly  possible  if  certain  general  principles  of 
administration  are  applied.  These  are  that  the  management  of 
the  ultility,  particularly  in  its  financial  aspects,  is  kept  separate 
from  that  of  any  other  utility  and  from  the  general  financial 
administration  of  the  city,  and  is  entrusted  to  expert  officials 
having  a  reasonably  permanent  tenure  and  large  powers  of  dis- 
cretion and  control  over  the  subordinate  force  of  employees, 
who  are  not  to  be  appointed  for  political  reasons. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  would  seem  that  uncontrolled  private 
operation  is  not  much  to  be  preferred  to  indifferent  municipal 
operation,  although  it  must  be  recognized  that  too  stringent 
control  of  private  operation  has  frequently  led  in  the  past  to 
municipal  operation  because  private  corporations  from  which  too 
much  is  demanded  in  the  way  of  payments  to  the  city  or  low 
rate  for  service  rendered  cannot  give  satisfactory  service.  This 
is  particularly  true  where  the  franchise  period  is  a  short  one. 

Further,  it  would  appear  to  be  the  case  that  a  private  com- 
pany gives  generally  better  service  than  a  municipality,  but  that 
on  the  whole,  because  a  municipality  can  usually  borrow  money 
at  a  cheaper  rate  of  interest  than  the  investor  in  private  com- 
panies is  willing  to  take,  the  service  rendered  by  a  company 
costs  the  public  somewhat  more  than  municipal  service.  This 
is  particularly  true  of  the  United  States  where  the  courts  hold 
that  the  present  value  of  the  property  and  not  the  actual  capital 
invested  is  to  be  considered  in  determining  the  rate  which  may  be 
charged.  It  is  true  that  the  possibility  of  supplying  the  serv- 
ice at  a  cheaper  rate  is  offset  to  an  extent  by  the  usually  greater 
inefficiency  of  municipal  management.  For  it  is  probably  true 
that  by  and  large  the  expense  of  production  is  greater  on  the 


394  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

part  of  the  municipality  than  on  the  part  of  a  private  corpora- 
tion. If  the  question  were  merely  an  economic  one  it  would 
doubtless  have  to  be  answered  in  favor  of  private  operation.  But 
the  question  is  not  an  economic  but  a  social  one.  These  utilities 
are  public  utilities,  the  operation  of  which  is  conducted  not  with 
the  idea  of  producing  wealth  but  of  rendering  social  service. 
Some  of  them  must  be  operated  at  a  loss,  if  we  look  at  the  matter 
from  the  view-point  merely  of  the  cash  returns  from  persons  di- 
rectly making  use  of  them.  That  loss  may  be  offset  by  the  gen- 
eral benefits  which  the  community  receives.  It  is  for  this  rea- 
son that  the  use  of  sewers  is  now  generally  free  to  the  users  of 
them  and  that  the  expense  of  their  maintenance  is  defrayed 
from  the  general  resources  of  the  community.  It  may  well  be 
that  other  matters  will  in  the  future  be  put  in  the  same  class. 
But  whether  they  are  or  not  they  are  given  attention  because 
the  needs  of  the  community  must  be  considered.  It  is  of  course 
desirable,  indeed  necessary,  that  all  these  undertakings  be  man- 
aged as  economically  as  possible,  provided  social  needs  are  not 
sacrificed  to  economic  considerations. 

Therefore,  the  admission  of  the"  greater  efficiency  of  private 
operation  does  not  carry  with  it  the  conclusion  that  private 
operation  is  always  desirable.  For  this  greater  efficiency  may 
have  for  its  effect  the  increase  of  private  wealth  rather  than  the 
general  benefit  of  the  community.  It  is  wise  to  endure  a  slight 
waste  in  processes  of  production  in  order  to  secure  greater  equal- 
ity in  distribution  or  a  greater  regard  for  general  social  needs. 
It  is  for  this  reason  probably  that  the  almost  universal  verdict  of 
the  world  has  been  rendered  in  favor  of  the  municipal  ownership 
and  operation  of  water  works. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  the  demands 
on  the  financial  resources  of  modern  cities  are  so  great  that  the 
budget  of  very  few  cities  can  stand  the  drain  of  many  inef- 
ficiently and  wastefully  managed  enterprises,  no  matter  what 
may  be  the  advantages  in  the  direction  of  greater  equality  of  dis- 
tribution or  greater  regard  for  general  social  conditions  which 
may  be  secured.  A  municipal  government  must  be  a  very  good 
one,  and  private  companies  must  be  regardless  of  general  social 


LOCAL  IMPROVEMENTS  395 

needs  to  justify  a  city  in  undertaking  the  management  of  many 
of  these  public  utilities  at  the  same  time. 

So  far  as  concerns  the  United  States  it  may  be  said  that  be- 
fore a  city  enters  upon  a  wide  field  of  municipal  activity  in  these 
directions  its  people  should  ask  themselves  whether  their  political 
situation  is  such  that  they  can  reasonably  expect  efficient  manage- 
ment, whether  their  resources  are  such  that  they  can  afford  to 
stand  the  economic  loss  to  the  community  as  a  whole  which  will 
probably  result  from  municipal  operation,  and  whether  it  is 
not  possible  to  provide  such  a  control  over  the  private  companies 
which  may  attend  to  the  matter,  as  will  ensure  fair  treatment  of 
the  public  from  the  viewpoints  both  of  equality  of  distribu- 
tion and  of  regard  for  social  needs.  What  has  been  said  has 
been  said  on  the  supposition  that  under  existing  law  the  city 
may  enter  the  field  of  municipal  ownership  and  operation  if  it 
deems  it  advisable  to  do  so.  This  is  a  supposition  which,  how- 
ever, cannot  unfortunately  be  made  in  the  case  of  many  Ameri- 
can cities.  Under  the  law  as  it  now  stands  many  of  these  cities 
are  dependent  entirely  upon  private  initiative  for  the  operation 
of  these  public  utilities.  This  is  a  position  in  which  they  stand 
practically  alone.  France  is  the  only  country  whose  law  does 
not  recognize  that  cities  possess  considerable  freedom  in  this  re- 
spect, and  in  France  cities  are  more  liberally  treated  than  in  the 
United  States.  If  there  is  one  point  in  this  matter  of  municipal 
ownership  and  operation  upon  which  the  opinion  of  the  European 
world  is  practically  decisive  it  is  that  cities  should  have  the 
power  under  proper  limitations  to  enter  upon  the  field  of  munic- 
ipal ownership  and  operation.  However  conflicting  the  chaos 
of  opinion,  statistics,  law  and  judicial  decision  may  be  in  other 
respects,  there  is  almost  unanimity  outside  of  the  United  States 
that  cities  should  have  this  power ;  and  even  in  the  United  States 
opinion  is  coming  gradually  to  approximate  the  opinion  of 
Europe.  The  importance  of  the  possession  by  the  municipalities 
of  this  power  can  hardly  be  overestimated.  For  the  knowledge 
on  the  part  of  private  companies  that  this  power  can  and  the 
fear  that  it  will  in  an  extremity  be  exercised  are  most  effective 
in  securing  from  private  companies  about  to  operate  or  operat- 


396  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

ing  public  utilities  the  adoption  of  a  policy  which  has  regard  for 
the  important  public  and  social  interests  at  stake.  Where  this 
power  does  not  exist  private  companies  are  too  apt  to  consider 
that  they  are  conducting  a  merely  private  business;  and  in  the 
case  of  these  public  utilities  private  interest  and  public  need  are 
often  in  conflict. 


CHAPTER  XV 

FINANCIAL  ADMINISTRATION 

References : 

Munro,  W.  B.,  "Principles  and  Methods  of  Municipal  Administration," 
Chap.  X.  Fairlie,  J.  A.,  "Municipal  Administration,"  Chaps.  XIII-XVI. 
Fairlie,  J.  A.,  "Essays  in  Municipal  Administration,"  Chap.  X.  James, 
H.  G.,  "Municipal  Functions,"  Chaps.  XI  and  XII.  Howe,  F.  C.,  "The 
Modern  City  and  Its  Problems,"  Chaps.  XII  and  XIII.  Bruere,  H.,  "The 
New  City  Government"  Chaps.  VI  and  VII.  Chase,  H.  S.,  Budgets  and 
Balance  Sheets,  Proceedings  of  the  National  Municipal  League,  1910,  pp. 
214-229.  Gettemy,  C.  F.,  Standards  of  Municipal  Accounting  in  Massa- 
chusetts, Proceedings  of  the  National  Municipal  League,  1910,  pp.  230-245. 
Cleveland,  F.  A.,  "Municipal  Administration  and  Accounting,"  Chaps.  V, 
VI,  VIII,  IX,  X.  Bruere,  H.,  The  Budget  as  an  Administrative  Program, 
Annals  of  the  American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social  Science,  Vol. 
LXII,  (1915),  pp.  176-191.  Sands,  H.  R.  and  Lindars,  F.  W.,  Efficiency  in 
Budget-Making,  Annals  of  the  American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social 
Science,  Vol.  XLI,  (1912),  pp.  138-150.  Upson,  L.  D.,  Budget-Making  for 
Small  Cities,  Annals  of  the  American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social 
Science,  Vol.  LXII,  (1915),  pp.  235-248.  Goodnow,  F.  J.,  Limits  of  Bud- 
getary Control,  American  Political  Science  Review,  Vol.  VIII,  Sup.,  pp.  68- 
77.  Powers,  L.  G.,  Increasing  Municipal  Indebtedness,  National  Munici- 
pal Review,  III. 

City  Revenues.  City  financial  administration  may,  perhaps,  be 
best  treated  under  the  four  heads  of  Revenues,  Expenditures, 
Debts,  and  Accounting.  The  revenues  of  cities  for  a  consider- 
able period  in  their  history,  since  they  were  reduced  to  the  posi- 
tion of  subordinate  members  of  a  greater  state,  consisted  ex- 
clusively of  private  corporate  rather  than  public  governmental 
receipts.  The  history  of  most  cities  in  Europe  had  brought  it 
about  that  they  became  owners  of  considerable  amounts  of 
revenue-bearing  property.  From  lucrative  rights,  from  the  re- 
ceipts from  this  property,  and  from  loans,  the  expenses  of  the 
city  government  were  for  the  most  part  defrayed.  Cities  in 
England  and  the  United  States,  further,  were  not  before  the 

397 


398  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

nineteenth  century  regarded  as  sufficiently  governmental  or- 
ganizations to  be  entrusted  with  the  right  of  taxation.  It  was 
the  rule  of  the  English  law  thus  that  the  mere  incorporation 
of  a  borough  did  not  confer  upon  it  any  power  of  taxation. 
The  extension  of  the  sphere  of  municipal  activity  which  was 
characteristic  of  the  nineteenth  century,  made  it,  however,  im- 
possible for  cities  to  defray  the  expenses  of  their  administration 
out  of  the  income  of  their  property,  and  recourse  was  had  to  the 
taxing  power  which  was  very  commonly  conferred  upon  them 
by  the  legislature  of  the  state  in  which  they  were  situated. 

It  is  then  from  public  governmental  receipts  obtained  through 
the  taxing  power  that  by  far  the  major  part  of  the  revenues 
of  the  American  city  are  obtained.  These  revenues  consist 
mainly  of  taxes,  special  assessments  for  local  improvements  and 
loans  which  are  eventually  repaid  from  taxes.  Some  of  the 
general  principles  which  govern  in  the  raising  of  this  revenue 
have  been  set  forth  in  what  has  been  said  with  regard  to  the 
financial  powers  of  the  city  council. 

Kevenues  from  Municipal  Property.  It  is  very  questionable 
whether  the  complete  reversal  of  the  policy  of  the  preceding 
centuries,  such  as  was  contained  in  a  reliance  on  the  taxing 
power  alone  for  municipal  revenue,  was  either  necessary  or 
wise.  There  was,  as  it  turned  out,  in  the  streets  of  cities  a 
new  kind  of  property  whose  income,  if  recognized  as  being 
at  the  disposal  of  the  city,  would  have  been  sufficient,  par- 
ticularly in  the  large  cities,  to  pay  a  large  part  if  not  all  of 
the  really  local  expenses  of  the  city  government.  In  the  United 
States,  however,  the  courts  very  generally  refused  to  recognize 
the  cities  as  possessing  any  property  rights  in  the  streets,  and 
the  legislatures  of  the  states  very  commonly  wasted  this  prop- 
erty by  improvident  grants  of  it,  sometimes  in  perpetuity,  to 
private  persons  and  companies.  These  grants  were  in  many 
instances  unaccompanied  by  conditions  by  the  enforcement  of 
which  cities  could  either  derive  pecuniary  profit  for  themselves 
as  corporations  or  indirect  advantage  for  their  inhabitants 
through  improvement  in  service.  Prior  to  the  commencement 
of  the  nineteenth  century  the  municipal  authorities  had  wasted 
the  city  patrimony  in  England  and  Europe  generally.  During 


FINANCIAL  ADMINISTRATION  399 

that  century  what  might  have  been  a  new  city  patrimony  of  im- 
mense value  was  wasted  by  the  legislatures  of  many  of  the  states 
of  the  United  States. 

Within  recent  years,  however,  a  more  intelligent  view  has  come 
to  be  taken  of  the  rights  of  the  cities  and  at  the  present  time  an 
earnest  attempt  is  being  made  throughout  the  United  States  to 
secure  for  the  city  a  portion,  at  any  rate,  of  the  profit  which  is 
derivable  from  street  and  other  municipal  franchises. 

This  policy  of  waste,  like  the  public  attitude  with  respect 
to  the  operation  of  utilities,  had  both  a  practical  and  a  theoretical 
basis.  The  experiences  of  many  of  the  states  which  engaged  in 
commercial  undertakings,  especially  those  connected  with  trans- 
portation including  canals  and  railroads,  were  from  the  pecun- 
iary point  of  view  unfortunate  if  not  in  some  cases  disastrous. 
These  unsuccessful  excursions  into  the  field  of  "internal  im- 
provements" seemed  to  confirm  the  prevailing  laissez-faire  phi- 
losophy, and  led  to  a  fixed  belief  on  the  part  of  a  majority  of  the 
people  of  the  country  that  political  corporations  were  inherently 
incapable  of  conducting  enterprises  whose  purpose  is  pecun- 
iary profit.  This  belief  has  had  two  effects  on  the  finances  of 
American  cities:  one  was  that  the  city  government  should  un- 
dertake only  those  functions  whose  discharge  would  not  be  un- 
dertaken by  private  companies;  the  second  was  that  if  by  any 
chance  the  city  should  have  entered  upon  an  undertaking  which 
could  be  made  profitable,  the  charges  for  services  should  be  re- 
duced so  as  to  cover  little  if  any  more  than  the  cost  of  the  serv- 
ice. The  advantage  to  be  derived  from  any  city  undertaking 
was  to  be  found  not  in  the  pecuniary  profit  from  the  undertak- 
ing, but  in  the  improvement  of  the  welfare  of  the  inhabitants. 

As  a  result  of  these  conditions  the  receipts  derived  by  Ameri- 
can cities  from  commercial  undertakings  and  property  gener- 
ally, forms  a  very  small  portion  of  their  total  receipts.  Only 
ten  per  cent  of  all  revenues  of  cities  of  over  thirty  thousand 
population,  and  only  two  per  cent  in  the  case  of  cities  of  over 
four  thousand,  comes  from  public  utilities.  What  has  been 
said  of  American  cities  is  also  in  large  part  true  of  foreign 
cities,  though  in  Great  Britain  and  Germany  some  of  the  cities 
derive  quite  a  percentage  of  their  revenue  from  sources  other 


400  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

than  taxes.  Thus  Berlin  gets  thirty  per  cent  of  its  total  ordi- 
nary revenue  from  such  sources,  the  cities  of  England  and 
Wales  one-sixth,  and  Paris  twenty-two  per  cent. 

Powers  of  City  Councils  in  Taxation.  The  taxing  officers  of 
cities  are  of  three  kinds:  those  having  to  do  with  the  levy,  the 
assessment  and  the  collection  of  the  tax.  The  officers  having 
to  do  with  the  levy  of  the  tax  differ  very  greatly,  and,  of  course 
in  part,  on  account  of  the  differences  in  the  tax  levied.  In  all 
cases,  however,  there  is  some  authority  which  ultimately  deter- 
mines the  rate  of  taxation.  The  general  rule  is  that  it  is  the 
city  council  which  determines  the  amount  to  be  raised  by  taxation 
and  which  therefore  determines,  within  the  law,  the  rate  of 
taxation.  As  has  been  pointed  out,  however,  no  city  council 
or  city  authority  has  the  power  to  determine  what  kind  of 
taxes  shall  be  levied.  This  is  determined  by  the  state  legis- 
lature in  the  law  applicable  to  the  particular  city.  Further- 
more, the  rate  which  may  be  levied  is  generally  limited  by  law, 
either  absolutely  or  at  a  fixed  rate  unless  a  popular  vote  to 
exceed  that  rate  is  secured.  In  France  it  is  also  limited  by  a 
law  which  is  passed  each  year.  In  Germany  the  rate  is  fixed 
by  law  at  a  figure  which  may  be  exceeded  only  with  the  consent 
of  the  central  administration.  As  a  general  thing,  then,  the  law 
permits  the  cities  to  impose  several  kinds  of  taxes  but  subject 
to  limitations  with  respect  to  rate.  In  exceptional  cases  one 
finds  that  cities  are  given  general  powers  of  taxation  under  which 
they  may  select  whatever  kind  of  taxes  they  see  fit.  This  power 
of  choosing,  which  is  sometimes  spoken  of  as  "local  option"  in 
taxation,  it  is  believed  by  some  should  be  enjoyed  by  American 
cities  generally. 

Prussian  cities  have  had  wider  powers  of  taxation  than  are  pos- 
sessed by  cities  of  most  other  countries.  The  matter  was  gov- 
erned by  the  tax  law  of  1893.  This  law  gave  to  the  cities,  subject 
to  the  provisions  of  Imperial  tax  laws,  the  power  to  levy  taxes  of 
almost  all  kinds.  In  a  general  way  it  may  be  said,  however, 
that  the  German  policy  was  to  give  to  the  Empire  the  power  to 
levy  taxes  on  processes  and  things,  i.  e.,  indirect  taxes,  to  the 
state  the  power  to  levy  taxes  on  persons,  i.  e.,  income  taxes,  and 
to  the  localities,  taxes  on  property.  The  law  of  1893,  while  based 


FINANCIAL  ADMINISTRATION  401 

upon  this  principle,  expressly  permitted  the  cities  to  impose  indi- 
rect taxes,  taxes  on  trades  and  also  on  incomes,  as  well  as  upon 
land.  The  power  of  indirect  taxation  was  subject  to  serious 
limitations.  Greater  freedom  was  permitted  in  the  case  of  trade 
taxes.  The  law  presumed  that  all  cities  would  have  certain 
revenues  from  commercial  undertakings,  fees,  special  assessments 
for  local  improvements  levied  upon  those  benefited  thereby,  and 
indirect  taxes;  and  therefore  provided  that  direct  taxes  should 
be  resorted  to  only  to  make  good  the  amount  of  expenditure  not 
provided  for  from  these  sources.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  however, 
a  very  large  part  of  the  revenue  of  most  Prussian  cities  was  de- 
rived from  the  three  direct  taxes,  viz.  on  land,  trades  and  income. 
The  cities  were  not  given  by  the  law  free  hand  in  selecting  which 
of  these  taxes  they  would  levy,  but  were  confined  by  law  as  to  the 
proportion  of  their  total  income  which  they  might  obtain  from 
either  one  of  these  taxes.  If  they  desired  to  exceed  these  limits 
they  must  obtain  the  consent  of  the  central  government. 

In  some  cases,  of  which  England  is  a  marked  example,  it  is 
further  provided  that  the  taxes  which  the  city  may  levy  must  be 
separated,  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  purposes  for  which  they 
are  levied.  Thus,  there  are  a  watohing  rate,  a  sanitary  rate,  a 
school  rate  and  a  borough  rate.  Although  the  same  thing  is 
done  in  some  of  our  states,  it  may  be  said  generally  that  no 
attempt  is  made  outside  of  England  to  differentiate  the  pur- 
poses for  which  the  taxes  are  levied. 

Tax-Collecting  Agencies.  The  organization  provided  by  the  av- 
erage American,  as  well  as  European  city,  for  the  collection 
of  its  revenues  is  concerned  chiefly  with  receipts  from  taxes 
and  special  assessments.  The  tax  gathering  officer  is  usually 
the  treasurer,  at  whose  office  the  taxes  are  payable,  although  in 
some  cases  another  officer,  the  tax  collector,  is  selected  for  the 
purpose.  These  officers,  like  other  city  officers  are  chosen  in  a 
variety  of  ways,  though  usually  by  popular  election  in  the  United 
States.  In  Europe  the  method  of  appointment  either  by  the 
council,  the  executive  or  the  central  government  is  employed. 
It  is  of  course  true  that  when  a  city  derives  revenue  from  prop- 
erty, such  as  a  water  works,  this  is  collected,  ordinarily,  by  the 
special  board  or  authority  having  charge  of  that  class  of  prop- 


402  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

erty,  although  in  some  eases  the  revenues  from  certain  prop- 
erties, such  as  markets,  are  collected  by  the  regular  financial 
officers.  In  a  few  cities,  as  for  example  in  New  York,  when  the 
revenues  from  ce/tain  city  property  have  been  pledged  to  the 
payment  of  city  debts,  the  care  of  such  property  may  be  placed 
in  the  hands  of  a  debt  or  sinking  fund  commission  which  would, 
under  these  circumstances,  collect  the  revenues.  But  aside  from 
these  comparatively  unimportant  instances,  the  collection  of  city 
revenue  is  in  the  hands  of  the  regular  financial  officers. 

Specific  Taxes.  The  revenues  derived  through  the  exercise  of 
the  taxing  power  may  be  distinguished  as  specific  taxes,  ad 
valorem  taxes  and  special  assessments.  If  the  tax  which  is  levied 
is  a  specific  tax,  that  is,  if  the  tax  is  a  tax  of  so  many  dollars 
on  a  certain  occupation,  no  operations  upon  the  part  of  the  city 
government,  outside  of  the  fixing  of  the  rate  and  the  collection 
of  the  tax  from  the  persons  liable  to  taxation,  are  necessary. 
Where  these  specific  taxes  are  the  only  taxes  levied  the  city  tax 
administration  is  a  comparatively  simple  one.  If  the  rate  of 
taxation  is  a  matter  of  local  determination,  such  rate  is  usually 
fixed  by  the  city  council  subject  to  the  ordinary  veto  power 
of  the  city  executive,  where  that  exists.  The  only  other  admin- 
istrative officer  required  for  its  collection  is  a  tax  collector,  who, 
at  the  time  he  makes  the  collection  incidentally  determines  that 
the  person  from  whom  he  collects  the  tax  belongs  to  the  taxable 
classes.  Occupation  or  trades  taxes  are  resorted  to  by  the  cities 
in  France,  Germany  and  in  the  southern  states  of  the  United 
States.  Often  the  rates  in  the  United  States  are  specific. 

In  France  and  Italy  a  large  part  of  the  city  revenue  comes 
from  indirect  taxes  on  articles. of  consumption.  These  are  col- 
lected sometimes  by  officers  of  the  central  government,  or,  when 
collected  by  the  city,  by  officers  appointed  by  the  mayor.  These 
are  called  octroi  taxes  and  are  not  considered  technically  as 
taxes  from  the  point  of  view  of  public  finance.  The  objects 
on  which  they  may  be  imposed  as  well  as  the  rates  are  specified 
by  law. 

Ad  Valorem  Taxes. — Assessment.  Ad  valorem  taxes  are  those 
which  are  levied  at  a  certain  rate  per  cent  upon  the  assessed 
valuation  of  the  property  or  business  upon  which  they  are  im- 


FINANCIAL  ADMINISTRATION  403 

posed.  In  the  administration  of  such  taxes  the  taxing  machinery 
is  more  elaborate.  Not  only  must  the  tax  rate  be  determined,  but 
also  a  valuation  of  each  piece  of  property  or  business  subject 
to  the  tax  must  be  fixed,  together  with  the  sum  which  each  shall 
pay. 

In  a  rural  society  where  wealth  is  chiefly  in  land,  improve- 
ments, stock,  tools  and  produce,  not  easily  concealed  and  easily 
evaluated,  the  general  property  tax  is  relatively  equitable  and 
successful.  Upon  the  development  of  cities  in  this  country  the 
attempt  was  made  to  apply  there  the  same  form  of  taxes  and 
the  same  methods  of  assessment  which  had  been  elaborated  for 
use  in  rural  districts.  But  almost  simultaneously  with  the 
growth  of  cities  there  came  into  existence  large  amounts  of 
wealth  in  intangible  form,  especially  in  the  shape  of  corporate 
securities.  Then  the  general  property  tax  broke  down  and  be- 
came, as  usually  administered,  perhaps  the  most  unjust  system 
of  taxation  tolerated  today  in  the  civilized  world.  The  failure 
of  this  form  of  taxation  is  due  not  only  to  the  inequities  inherent 
in  it,  but  to  the  weakness  of  the  system  by  which  it  is  admin- 
istered. 

One  of  the  principles  quite  generally  insisted  upon  in  the 
application  of  ad  valorem  taxation  has  been  that  the  value  of 
the  property  taxed  should  be  assessed  by  assessors  elected  by  the 
people  subject  to  the  tax.  In  some  of  the  larger  cities  this  idea 
was  carried  to  the  point  of  maintaining  that  assessors  chosen 
by  the  city  at  large  would  be  too  far  removed  from  the  control 
of  the  people.  On  that  account  it  was  quite  commonly  the  case 
to  prescribe  that  the  voters  of  each  ward  were  to  elect  the 
assessors  who  were  to  determine  the  valuation  of  property  in 
that  ward.  The  persons  chosen  in  that  way  received  small 
salaries,  devoted  but  a  small  amount  of  time  to  the  work,  served 
for  but  short  terms  and  consequently  acquired  little  training 
for  the  work.  This  method  resulted  in  a  sort  of  self-assessment 
for  each  district. 

Assessments,  under  these  circumstances,  could  be  based  upon 
merely  a  most  superficial  investigation  of  the  property  by  the 
assessors,  supplemented,  perhaps,  by  such  statements  or  declara- 
tions as  the  owner  might  be  induced  to  make.  The  attempt 


404  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

to  tax  intangible  personalty  at  the  same  rate  as  realty  and 
tangibles  was  not  successful.  The  result  was  the  shifting  of  the 
greatest  burden  of  taxation  upon  real  estate  owners  and  the 
escape  from  taxation  of  a  large  class,  including  those  best  able 
to  pay. 

If  by  this  system  of  ward  assessment  the  burden  was  inequita- 
bly apportioned  among  individuals,  its  application  was  likewise 
inequitable  as  between  wards.  Assessment  by  different  local 
assessors  resulted  in  a  wide  variation  in  the  different  wards. 
Thus  the  assessor  in  district  "A"  might  assess  property  at  fifty 
per  cent,  the  one  in  district  "B"  at  seventy-five  per  cent  of 
its  real  value.  Inasmuch  as  the  rate  of  taxation  as  fixed  by 
the  proper  authorities  would  be  the  same  for  the  whole  city,  a 
taxpayer  in  district  "B"  would  pay  to  the  city  for  similar  prop- 
erty a  tax  fifty  per  cent  greater  than  a  taxpayer  in  district  "A." 
Hence,  just  as  between  individuals  there  was  competition  in 
concealing  intangibles  to  reduce  the  proportion  each  must  pay  in 
taxes,  there  was  competition  between  assessors  of  different  dis- 
tricts to  lower  the  proportional  contribution  of  that  district  to 
the  sum  total  to  be  raised.  The  result  was  a  general  reduction 
of  taxable  values  which  seriously  impaired  the  city's  financial 
resources. 

The  experience  of  Chicago  illustrates  the  situation  above 
described.  Owing  to  the  competition  between  the  assessors  of 
the  towns  of  which  the  city  was  composed,  the  ratio  of  assess- 
ments fell  so  low  that  it  was  necessary  for  the  legislature  to 
interfere  and  by  law  fix  the  ratio  of  value  for  purposes  of  assess- 
ment at  a  given  proportion  of  actual  valuation.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  the  ratio  as  fixed  by  the  legislature  was  only  20  per  cent 
of  the  real  value.  Inasmuch  as  this  was  generally  regarded 
as  an  increase  in  the  valuation  of  the  assessors,  the  valuation 
formerly  made  by  them  must  have  been  ludicrously  low.  The 
City  of  New  York  long  ago  went  through  somewhat  the  same 
experience  but  applied  a  different  and  much  more  effective 
remedy.  About  1860  a  law  was  passed  by  the  state  legislature 
doing  away  with  the  ward  assessors  and  providing  for  a  board 
having  jurisdiction  over  the  entire  city.  The  members  of  this 
board  were  no  longer  to  be  elected  by  the  people  but  were  to 


FINANCIAL  ADMINISTRATION  405 

be  appointed  by  the  city  authorities.  At  the  present  time  they 
are  appointed  and  may  be  removed  by  the  mayor  whenever 
he  sees  fit  to  exercise  this  power.  They  receive  quite  a  large 
salary,  practically  devote  themselves  exclusively  to  the  work 
of  assessment,  and  are,  in  a  word,  really  professional  assessors, 
who,  different  from  popular  assessors,  look  at  their  work,  not 
from  the  point  of  view  of  the  taxpayer,  but  from  that  of  the 
city  and  as  a  consequence  are  inclined  to  assess  property  at 
something  like  its  real  value. 

A  conviction  that  the  general  property  tax  contains  inherent 
defects  fatal  to  its  success  has  led  in  some  states  either  to  a 
classification  of  property  so  that  intangibles  may  be  taxed  at  a 
rate  lower  than  that  applied  to  real  estate,  or  to  the  supersed- 
ing of  the  old  tax  by  other  forms  such  as  income,  corporation  and 
franchise  taxes. 

In  many  jurisdictions,  both  where  the  general  property  tax 
is  retained,  as  well  as  where  it  has  been  superseded,  there  has 
been  a  disposition  to  attempt  a  reform  in  the  methods  of  assess- 
ment in  the  direction  pursued  in  New  York  as  above  described. 
The  office  of  assessor  has  been  made  professional  and  permanent, 
and  these  officers  with  the  assistance  of  carefully  prepared 
maps  and  data  on  file  carry  on  a  virtually  continuous  assessment. 

Special  Assessments.  A  theory  of  taxation  no  longer  accepted 
as  of  general  application  was  that  taxes  were  justified  by  and 
should  be  apportioned  according  to  benefits  received.  Although 
rejected  with  respect  to  benefits  which  are  of  such  general  char- 
acter that  they  cannot  be  measured  or  allotted  equitably,  it  is 
still  believed  that  where  the  benefits  are  definite,  concrete  and 
measurable,  they  should  be  paid  for  by  the  recipients  of  the 
benefits.2  Upon  this  theory  it  is  customary  in  a  large  percentage 
of  the  cities  of  the  United  States,  when  certain  local  improve- 
ments are  undertaken,  particularly  the  construction  of  sewers, 
pavements,  sidewalks,  boulevards  and  parks,  to  assess  upon  the 
neighboring  property  benefited  thereby  a  portion  or  all  of  the 
cost  of  construction.  The  proportion  of  cost  which  may  thus 
be  distributed  varies  according  to  the  nature  of  the  improve- 
ment as  well  as  according  to  the  general  principles  of  law. 

2Plehn,  "Public  Finance,"  p.  90. 


406  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

A  fundamental  rule  is  that  the  assessment  upon  property  can- 
not exceed  the  amount  of  benefit  conferred.  The  construction 
of  a  park  or  the  improvement  of  a  street  will  add  materially  to 
property  values,  but  the  construction  of  a  sewer  will  not  cause 
a  corresponding  increase.  Again,  in  som,e  jurisdictions,  the 
levy  of  special  assessments  is  confined  by  statute  to  abutting 
property,  although  it  is  obvious  that  in  the  improvement  of  a 
street,  property  not  actually  abutting  may  be  appreciably  bene- 
fited, and  in  the  case  of  parks  or  boulevards  the  benefits  are 
widely  appreciable.  It  is  a  common  provision  of  law  that  cer- 
tain forms  of  improvement  proposed  to  be  made  by  special 
assessment  may  be  vetoed  by  a  remonstrance  of  a  majority  of 
the  property  owners  in  the  area  to  be  assessed.  Costs  of  main- 
tenance and  repairs,  however,  cannot  fairly  be  met  by  special 
assessments,  although  they  sometimes  are,  since  these  do  not  add 
to  neighboring  property,  values  greater  than  existed  when  the 
original  improvement  was  made,  and  since  the  depreciation  is  due 
not  to  the  use  of  the  abuttors  alone  but  to  public  use.  Since  the 
increase  in  the  value  of  property  arising  from  a  public  improve- 
ment is  generally  slow,  and  since  the  immediate  payment  of  the 
whole  assessment  might  embarrass  the  property  owner,  it  is  cus- 
tomary to  provide  that  the  payment  plus  interest  on  unpaid 
portions  may  be  spread  over  a  term  of  years.3  Although  the 
idea  of  the  special  assessment  has  not  found  favor  in  some  of 
the  older  centers  of  population,  it  has  proved  to  be  a  very  prac- 
tical means  of  financing  public  improvements  which  in  the  newer 
and  more  rapidly  expanding  municipalities  would  have  been 
otherwise  impossible. 

Miscellaneous  Revenues.  In  addition  to  the  foregoing  sources 
of  revenue,  certain  small  sums  are  usually  secured  from  license 
fees  and  fines.  To  these  are  sometimes  added  grants  from  the 
state  in  aid  of  education  and  of  charity,  and  the  income  from 
trust  funds  bequeathed  by  benevolent  persons  for  charitable  or 
educational  purposes.  These,  however,  taken  together  are  an 
almost  negligible  portion  of  the  city's  revenues. 

Municipal  Expenditures.  An  outstanding  fact  in  municipal 
finance  is  the  rapid  rate  at  which  expenditures  have  risen,  a 

3  Shurtleff  and  Olmsted,  Chap.  III. 


FINANCIAL  ADMINISTRATION  407 

rate  greater  than  the  increase  in  either  population  or  assessed 
valuation  in  the  cities.  This  tendency  has  been  so  pronounced 
and  without  visible  signs  of  abatement  that  it  has  aroused  con- 
cern, not  only  among  taxpayers,  but  also  among  disinterested 
students  of  municipal  affairs. 

Eecent  tendencies  may  best  be  emphasized  by  a  review  of 
certain  available  statistics,  but  since  statistics  based  upon  gov- 
ernmental costs  in  war-time  would  be  uninforming,  those  of  an 
earlier  period  may  be  chosen.  In  1902  the  expenditures  of  New 
York  City  for  maintenance  and  operation  of  municipal  activities 
were  $87,000,000,  as  compared  with  $174,000,000  in  1912,  an 
increase  of  one  hundred  per  cent.  In  the  ten  cities  next  smaller 
than  New  York  similar  expenditures  rose  during  the  same  period 
from  $115,000,000  to  $203,000,000,  or  seventy-six  and  five-tenths 
per  cent.  In  the  period  from  1903  to  1915,  in  the  one  hundred 
and  forty-six  largest  cities  at  the  earlier  date,  the  net  cost  pay- 
ments of  municipal  government  rose  from  $514,000,000  to  $996,- 
000,000,  an  increase  of  ninety-three  per  cent.  This  shows  a  per 
capita  increase  from  $24.64  to  $34.53,  or  forty  and  one-tenth 
per  cent.4 

It  has  already  been  found  that  the  interest  payments  on  the 
ever  mounting  volume  of  debt  form  a  large  and  increasing 
portion  of  the  present  cost  of  government,  and  seem  to  continue 
so  far  into  the  future.  The  cause  of  this  increased  expenditure 
is  in  part  the  rising  cost  of  labor  and  supplies,  but  more  espe- 
cially the  increasing  demand  of  the  public  that  the  city  perform 
a  constantly  widening  range  of  social  services.  Ex-mayor  Mc- 
Clellan  of  New  York  has  said  that  the  present  tendency  to  in- 
crease expenditures  is  due  to  "the  fact  that  of  those  voters  who 
control  the  spending  authority,  only  about  four  per  cent  are  the 
taxpayers  who  provide  the  bulk  of  the  city  income. " 5  It  is 
in  the  facts  indicated  as  above,  coupled  with  the  fact  that  the 
limit  of  productivity  under  existing  systems  of  taxation  is 
near,  which  make  the  problem  of  municipal  finance  today  one 
of  gravity. 

Spending  Authorities.     The  authorities  having  to  do  with  the 

4  Bureau  of  the  Census,  "Financial  Statistics  of  Cities,"  1917,  p.  17. 
e  Atlantic  Monthly,  Vol.  CVII  (April,  1911),  p.  433. 


408  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

expenditure  of  city  money  may  be  divided  into  two  groups.  The 
first  embraces  those  who  fix  the  amount  to  be  spent,  and  the 
second  those  who  actually  expend  the  money  appropriated.  It 
was  formerly  held  to  be  axiomatic  that  the  appropriating  and 
the  spending  of  funds  should  be  in  different  hands,  though  in 
English  cities  no  such  distinction  has  been  maintained.  Within 
recent  years  it  has  come  to  be  believed  in  this  country  that  when 
there  is  provided  a  definite  centralization  of  responsibility  the 
appropriating  and  spending  functions  may  be  safely  conferred 
upon  a  single  authority. 

Among  the  authorities  composing  the  first  group,  which  de- 
termines the  amounts  to  be  expended,  may  be  distinguished  those 
who  prepare  the  budget  and  those  who  make  the  appropriations. 
In  American  cities  the  work  of  preparing  and  presenting  the 
budget  as  distinguished  from  voting  the  money  may  be  performed 
by  either  of  three  authorities:  the  city  council  itself,  a  finance 
board  or  the  mayor. 

The  Municipal  Budget.  The  municipal  budget  may  be  defined 
as  a  plan  for  financing  the  city  government  with  respect  both 
to  revenues  and  expenditures  for  a  definite  future  period,  pre- 
sented to  the  legislative  body  of  the  city,  whose  approval  is  neces- 
sary before  it  can  be  put  in  execution. 

"To  speak  concretely,  a  scientific  budget  is  both  an  instrument 
and  a  process  of  government.  As  an  instrument,  it  is  a  means 
of  getting  before  the  representative  body,  which  has  the  power 
to  control  the  purse,  a  well  considered  plan,  with  all  the  inf orma- 
.tion  needed  to  determine  whether  the  plan  should  be  approved 
before  funds  are  made  available  for  its  execution.  As  a  process 
of  government,  it  is  a  procedure  for  insuring  complete  account- 
ability for  past  grants,  and  for  requiring  those  whose  future 
acts  are  to  be  controlled  to  assume  full  responsibility  for  prepar- 
ing, explaining  and  defending  their  plans  and  proposals  for 
future  grants,  such  plans  for  the  future  to  include:  (1)  an 
expenditure  program  based  on  estimated  service  needs,  and  (2) 
a  revenue  program  indicating  what  grants  of  authority  are 
desired  to  enable  them  to  raise  the  money  to  make  purchases 
as  well  as  to  meet  outstanding  obligations.6 

'"Municipal  Research,"  No.  80   (December,  1916),  p.  3. 


FINANCIAL  ADMINISTRATION  409 

The  essential  parts  of  a  budget  in  its  most  complete  sense 
may  be  said  to  be: 

1.  A  work  program  showing  what  work  has  been  done  by  the 
government  with  costs  classified  by  functions  or  services  rendered 
and  presenting  a  plan  for  the  future  with  the  estimated  costs 
of  the  several  functions  or  services. 

2.  An  analysis  of  cost  of  things  used  or  to  be  used  in  doing 
work,  or  rendering  service,  such  as  personal  service,  supplies, 
materials,  etc. 

3.  An  estimate  of  appropriations  to  be  developed  into  an  act 
of  appropriation — a  statement  of  the  amount  of  appropriation 
or  drawing  accounts  to  be  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  spend- 
ing officers  to  cover  the  cost  of  the  work  to  be  done. 

4.  An  estimate  of  revenue  and  borrowing — a  statement  of  the 
ways  and  means  of  raising  the  funds  to  pay  for  the  work  author- 
ize^7 

These  essentials  are,  in  a  complete  budget,  accompanied  by 
supporting  schedules  of  details  necessary  to  a  critical  study  of 
the  summaries  above  enumerated. 

In  American  city  government  the  term  budget  is  given  a  more 
restricted  meaning.  Here  it  is  commonly  applied  to  the  com- 
pilation of  estimates  of  expenditures  presented  to  the  city  council 
together  with  the  appropriation  ordinance  embodying  the  sub- 
stance of  those  estimates  as  modified  by  the  council.  With  these 
may  sometimes  be  found  a  statement  of  anticipated  revenues  for 
the  information  of  the  legislative  body.  Since  the  idea  of 
executive  responsibility  is  but  feebly  developed,  the  budget  is 
not  made  a  showing  of  work  done  by  the  executive  nor  a  scheme 
for  financing  the  plan  submitted. 

Preparation  of  the  Budget.  The  traditional  method  of  making 
the  appropriations  was  and  still  is  in  a  very  large  number  of 
cities  somewhat  as  follows: — The  heads  of  the  various  depart- 
ments submit  to  the  comptroller  or  auditor  a  statement  of  the 
estimated  needs  of  their  departments.  Since  they  are  not  called 
upon  at  the  same  time  to  justify  their  expenditures  of  the  last 
appropriation,  the  estimates  are  exaggerated  in  anticipation  of  a 
probable  reduction  by  the  council.  Since  the  council's  commit- 

7  "Municipal  Research,"  No.  80  (December,  1916),  p.  19. 


410  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

tee  on  finance  has  no  adequate  means  of  investigating  the  needs  of 
the  departments,  it  is  compelled  to  accept  the  inflated  estimates, 
or  suspecting  them  to  be  inflated,  assume  the  responsibility  of 
changing  the  amounts  without  reliable  information.  The  com- 
mittee reports  its  conclusions  in  the  form  of  an  appropriation 
ordinance  to  the  council  for  action.  The  procedure  of  a  city 
council  upon  an  appropriation  measure  prepared  in  this  manner 
is  illustrated  by  a  description  of  a  session  of  the  Chicago  city 
council  many  years  ago.  "In  1893  the  city  council  of  Chicago 
passed  appropriation  ordinances  on  March  27th,  after  a  large 
amount  of  other  business  had  been  disposed  of,  covering  thirty 
pages  in  the  printed  proceedings.  The  council  took  up  the 
special  order  for  the  evening,  the  consideration  for  the  first  time 
of  the  report  of  the  committee  on  finances  on  the  appropria- 
tions of  1893.  Twenty-one  proposed  changes  were  defeated,  four 
items  were  reduced,  three  were  increased,  one  item  was  divided 
into  four.  Before  that  session  adjourned  the  budget,  covering 
$11,810,969  in  all,  over  five  hundred  items,  had  been  enacted."  8 

Within  the  last  two  decades  municipal  budget  making  has 
made  much  progress  and  among  the  cities  where  a  more  enlight- 
ened practice  has  superseded  the  one  above  described  a  some- 
what uniform  system  has  been  worked  out.  A  chief  point  of  dif- 
ference is  as  to  the  authority  in  whom  is  vested  the  preparation  of 
the  budget,  whether  the  council,  a  finance  board  or  the  mayor. 

In  either  case  the  administrative  departments  are  required  to 
submit  their  estimates  for  the  coming  period  under  appropriate 
heads,  as  personal  services,  contractual  services,  supplies,  mate- 
rials, etc.  Accompanying  these  for  purposes  of  comparison  is  a 
statement  of  actual  expenditures  under  corresponding  heads  for 
the  current  and  the  last  preceding  year.  These  estimates  are  in- 
vestigated by  the  budget-making  authority  and  a  tentative 
budget  prepared.  Public  hearings  are  then  held  at  which  all 
persons  interested,  including  representatives  of  the  administra- 
tive departments,  may  present  their  views  supported  by  argu- 
ment as  to  what  the  budget  should  contain.  In  the  light  of  the 
information  thus  brought  out  the  budget  is  revised  and  sub- 

s  Clow,  "City  Finances  in  the  United  States,"  Publications  of  the  Amer- 
ican Economic  Association,  1901,  p.  44. 


FINANCIAL  ADMINISTRATION  411 

mitted  as  a  tentative  appropriation  ordinance  to  the  council. 

When  the  budget  is  prepared  under  the  auspices  of  a  council 
committee  there  still  persists  the  difficulty  that  the  committee  has 
not  the  knowledge  of  the  needs  of  the  departments  to  enable  it  to 
recommend  with  intelligence ;  neither  does  the  committee,  which 
is  not  charged  with  the  duty  of  securing  results  with  the  funds 
appropriated  feel  a  responsibility  for  a  possible  failure  to  recom- 
mend appropriations  wisely. 

A  second  method  of  preparing  the  budget  is  to  place  this  duty 
in  the  hands  of  a  finance  board  made  up  mainly  of  administra- 
tive officers,  including  in  some  eases  the  mayor,  and  sometimes 
one  or  more  representatives  of  the  council.  In  New  York,  the 
board  of  estimate  consists  of  the  mayor,  comptroller,  president 
of  the  board  of  aldermen  and  the  presidents  of  the  five  boroughs 
into  which  the  city  is  divided.  The  board  may  sometimes  have 
very  extensive  financial  powers.  Sometimes  a  greater  than  ordi- 
nary majority  of  the  council  is  necessary  to  amend  the  estimates ; 
in  other  cases  the  council  may  be  given  power  to  reduce  but  not 
to  increase  the  amounts  of  appropriation  proposed  by  the  board. 
The  purpose  of  such  a  board  is  to  bring  to  the  work  of  budget- 
making  knowledge  of  administrative  needs  such  as  is  lacking  in 
the  case  of  a  council  committee,  but  there  remains  the  objection 
that  centralization  of  responsibility  is  still  wanting.  It  is  be- 
lieved that  by  forbidding  the  increasing  of  items  in  the  estimates 
by  the  council  extravagance,  political  jobbery  and  log-rolling  will 
be  prevented. 

The  third  alternative  as  to  budget-making  authority  is  to 
place  the  sole  responsibility  for  the  budget  upon  the  mayor. 
When  this  plan  is  applied  it  is  not  uncommon  to  add  the  limita- 
tion of  the  power  of  the  council  with  respect  to  increases.  In 
these  cities  the  mayor  is  the  real  head  of  the  administration. 
Consequently  there  is  complete  centralization  of  responsibility 
both  for  the  estimates  proposed  and  the  results  obtained  with  the 
funds  appropriated. 

The  Budget  as  an  Instrument  of  Control.  A  method  formerly 
almost  universally  employed  in  the  preparation  of  the  appropria- 
tion bill  was  to  grant  lump  sums  to  departments  or  for  specified 
purposes,  leaving  their  detailed  appropriation  to  the  authority 


412  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

immediately  in  charge  of  the  work.  This  was  done  in  the  belief 
that  the  administrative  officers  were  in  a  position  to  make  a  more 
intelligent  use  of  funds  when  given  discretion  as  to  their  exact 
application.  The  lump  sum  appropriation  has  been  found  con- 
stantly to  lead  to  abuse  in  the  diversion  of  funds  to  serve  politi- 
cal ends  or  private  aggrandizement.  These  forms  of  misuse  and 
waste  have  developed  for  want  of  any  sufficient  means  of  con- 
trolling the  officers  to  whom  is  entrusted  the  spending  of  the 
money  appropriated.  Under  our  forms  of  city  government,  ex- 
cept in  the  cases  of  commission  and  city-manager  governed 
cities,  there  is  provided  no  means  by  which  these  officials  can  be 
held  responsible  to  the  council  for  their  use  of  lump  sums, 
nor  by  which  the  council  may  be  informed  of  the  precise  pur- 
poses for  which  monies  have  been  expended. 

To  remedy  this  evil  there  has  been  developed  the  segregated 
budget,  which  places  in  the  act  of  appropriation  itself  a  detailed 
statement  of  the  items  for  which  funds  are  granted  and  the  pur- 
poses to  which  they  must  be  applied.  While  this  method  pre- 
vents the  diversion  of  funds  from  one  purpose  to  another,  at  the 
same  time  it  works  to  limit  that  discretion  which,  when  exercised 
by  a  faithful  administrator,  will  result  in  the  most  effective  and 
economical  use  of  the  money  available.  A  practical  solution  of 
the  dilemma  is  to  make  lump  sum  appropriations  for  specified 
classes  of  objects,  such  as  personal  services,  materials,  etc.; 
itemization  of  lump  sum  appropriations  in  schedules  which  are  to 
be  binding  unless  transfers  are  granted ;  provision  for  transfers 
upon  approval  of  the  chief  executive,  and  a  requirement  that  all 
transfers  be  reported  to  the  council. 

Obstacles  to  an  Effective  Budget  System.  The  effectiveness  of  a 
budget  system  in  American  cities  is  impaired  by  the  fact  that 
ordinarily  the  budget  does  not  include  the  extraordinary  ex- 
penditures defrayed  from  the  proceeds  of  loans  or  special  assess- 
ments. The  same  authorities,  which  make  up  the  budget  of 
current  expenses  defrayed  from  the  revenue  of  city  property 
and  taxes,  usually  have  charge  also  of  the  extraordinary  expendi- 
tures. There  is  too  often,  however,  no  attempt  made  to  esti- 
mate beforehand  what  extraordinary  expenditures  shall  be  made 
each  year  but  each  matter  requiring  such  expenditure  is  attended 


FINANCIAL  ADMINISTRATION  413 

to  as  it  arises.  In  the  City  of  New  York,  however,  the  charter 
by  a  unique  provision  specifically  provides  that  the  Board  of 
Estimate  and  Apportionment  may,  without  the  approval  of  the 
city  council,  expend  each  year  from  the  issue  of  bonds,  certain 
specified  amounts  for  the  extension  of  the  city  streets  and  school 
houses,  for  acquiring  new  docks,  and  for  increasing  the  plant  of 
its  water  works. 

It  is  a  fact,  too,  that  expenditures,  both  ordinary  and  extraor- 
dinary, are  not  in  the  average  American  city  altogether  a  matter 
of  local  determination.  This  is  particularly  true  of  the  ex- 
penditures relative  to  matters  which  are  regarded  as  of  state  in- 
terest. Thus,  the  city  is  often  compelled  by  law  to  enter  into 
undertakings  which  in  the  opinion  of  the  legislature  are  of  ad- 
vantage to  it,  and  the  salaries  of  its  officers  are  often  fixed  with 
considerable  detail,  particularly  the  salaries  of  teachers.  In  some 
instances  the  minimum  salaries  of  teachers  are  fixed  by  the  state 
law  and  in  the  case  of  New  York  the  city  must  devote  a  certain 
proportion  of  the  tax  levy  to  the  payment  of  such  salaries. 
These  compulsory  expenditures  form,  sometimes,  such  a  large 
proportion  of  the  total  expenditures  of  the  city  as  to  take  away 
much  of  the  importance  of  the  formal  budget-making  authori- 
ties. Thus,  in  New  York  City  it  is  said  that  more  than  half  of 
the  expenditures  for  salaries  and  wages  are  fixed  by  state  law. 
These  compulsory  expenditures  are  enforced  by  the  courts  on  the 
application  of  parties  interested. 

Powers  of  City  Council  in  Appropriation.  Whatever  the  form 
of  the  budget  and  however  it  may  be  prepared,  the  final  act  of 
appropriation,  like  the  levy  of  the  tax,  is  made  by  the  legislative 
body  of  the  city.  The  power  of  this  body  is  subject  to  the  veto 
power  of  the  executive  wherever  the  executive  exists  as  a  coordi- 
nate branch  of  the  government.  This  power  commonly  extends 
to  separate  items  of  appropriation,  but  in  any  case  the  veto  may 
be  overridden  by  the  council.  The  council's  power  is  sometimes 
further  limited,  as  before  mentioned,  by  the  prohibition  to  in- 
crease any  item  of  appropriation  presented  in  the  budget. 

Expenditures  in  European  Cities.  In  England  naturally  the 
whole  matter  of  city  expenditures  is  in  the  hands  of  the  council. 
Certain  expenses  are,  however,  obligatory.  Ordinarily  as  in  the 


414  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

United  States  the  provision  for  such  expenses  may  be  enforced 
by  the  courts  at  the  instance  of  persons  interested.  This  judicial 
control  is  supplemented  by  an  imperfect  administrative  control 
exercised  by  the  Local  Government  Board  in  all  matters  but 
schools,  where  the  Board  of  Education  is  to  act.  The  estimates 
often  go  to  a  Finance  Committee  which  puts  them  into  the  form 
in  which  they  are  submitted  to  the  council.  But  the  council 
where  it  has  adopted  no  standing  order  to  the  contrary  may  in- 
crease as  well  as  reduce  them. 

In  both  France  and  Germany  the  determination  of  expenses  is 
made  by  the  council  on  the  proposition  of  the  executive.  In 
France  proposals  made  by  the  mayor  to  spend  money  may  be 
changed  by  the  council  by  either  additions  or  reductions.  In 
Germany  the  council  may  reject  the  proposals  of  the  executive, 
when  appeal  goes  to  the  administrative  courts.  Provision  for 
obligatory  expenses  may  be  enforced  on  the  continent  of  Europe 
by  the  superior  administrative  authority  to  which  the  budget  of 
receipts  and  expenses  must  be  presented  before  it  has  any  legal 
effect.  This  may  be  changed  so  as  to  make  it  conform  to  the 
law. 

Disbursing  Officers.  The  second  class  of  authorities  having  to 
do  with  expenditures  are  those  who  actually  expend  the  money 
appropriated.  The  expenditure  of  money  involves  the  discharge 
of  two  distinct  functions:  the  one  consists  in  the  determina- 
tion of  the  correctness,  from  both  the  legal  and  the  practical 
point  of  view,  of  the  claim  presented  for  payment — the  deter- 
mination, in  other  words,  of  the  two  questions :  Is  the  expenditure 
one  authorized  by  law  or  by  competent  authority,  and  has  the 
service  been  rendered  or  have  the  goods  been  delivered  for  which 
the  expenditure  is  to  be  made  ?  The  second  function  consists  in 
the  actual  payment  of  the  money  to  the  person  entitled  thereto. 
In  the  smaller  cities  of  the  United  States  these  two  functions  are 
quite  commonly  discharged  by  the  same  authority,  in  the  larger 
they  are  discharged  by  separate  authorities.  Further,  in  a  num- 
ber of  cities,  of  which  New  York  is  an  example,  the  function  of 
determining  the  correctness  of  claims  against  the  city  is  made 
a  part  of  the  duties  of  the  chief  financial  officer  of  the  city. 

here  the  greatest  differentiation  of  the  functions  of  munici- 


FINANCIAL  ADMINISTRATION  415 

pal  financial  administration  is  to  be  found,  there  are  three  of- 
ficers : — a  comptroller,  who  is  the  chief  financial  officer  in  general 
control  of  the  financial  administration ;  an  auditor  who  examines 
into  the  character  and  legality  of  the  claims  against  the  city,  and 
a  treasurer,  or  chamberlain,  who  receives,  cares  for  and  pays  out 
the  money.  In  the  smaller  cities  of  the  United  States  all  these 
duties  are  sometimes  performed  by  a  single  officer.  More  fre- 
quently, as  in  the  case  of  New  York,  the  functions  of  comptroller 
and  auditor  are  performed  by  the  same  person,  but  the  treas- 
urer's office  is  kept  distinct.  Usually  the  treasurer  is  elected 
by  the  people,  though  sometimes  he  is  appointed  by  the  council, 
or  where  there  is  a  highly  centralized  executive,  by  the  mayor. 
The  comptroller,  whether  or  not  acting  as  auditor,  is  most  fre- 
quently elected  by  the  people,  though  sometimes  appointed.  It 
may  be  said  that  the  financial  administration  of  the  city,  even 
where  the  executive  has  broad  powers,  is  less  under  executive 
control  than  the  other  administrative  departments. 

In  England  payments  are  regularly  made  by  the  borough  treas- 
urer, appointed  by  the  council,  on  orders  signed  by  three  mem- 
bers of  the  council  and  countersigned  by  the  town  clerk.  The 
Municipal  Corporations  Act  provides  that  an  order  so  made 
which  is  not  authorized  by  act  of  Parliament  may  be  removed  by 
writ  of  cvrtiorari  on  the  application  of  a  rate-payer  to  the  Court 
of  King's  Bench,  which  on  motion  and  hearing  may  disallow  or 
confirm  such  order. 

In  France  the  mayor  is  the  only  authority  in  the  city  govern- 
ment who  can  authorize  the  payment  of  city  monies.  He  is  re- 
sponsible for  his  action  to  the  city  council,  which" at  the  budget 
session  examines  his  account  for  the  past  year  with  the  idea  of  as- 
certaining if  his  orders  of  payment  correspond  with  the  appro- 
priations made.  The  mayor's  accounts  must  also  be  submitted  to 
the  prefect  for  approval.  The  orders  or  warrants  of  payment 
issued  by  the  mayor  must  be  honored  by  the  city  treasurer,  who  is 
appointed  by  the  prefect  or  president  of  the  republic  from  a  list 
containing  the  names  of  three  persons  presented  by  the  city 
council. 

The  German  system  of  providing  for  expenditures  is  much  like 
the  French  except  that  the  officer  having  charge  of  city  funds  is 


416  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

appointed  by  the  municipality.  As  in  France,  warrants  issued 
by  the  competent  authority,  generally  the  burgomaster,  must  be 
honored  by  the  officer  who  has  possession  of  the  funds,  usually  a 
chamberlain  or  receiver,  who  is  appointed  by  the  city  authorities. 

Municipal  Debts,  Extent  and  Origin.  The  startling  rise  in  re- 
cent years  in  municipal  expenditures  already  referred  to  is 
rivalled  by  the  increase  in  municipal  indebtedness.  An  examina- 
tion of  statistics  prepared  by  the  Census  Bureau  discloses  the 
fact  that  one  hundred  and  forty-six  of  the  largest  cities  of  the 
country  had,  in  1902,  a  total  net  indebtedness  of  over  $900,- 
000,000,  and  that  in  the  same  cities,  in  1913,  it  had  risen  to  over 
$1,800,000,000,  an  increase  of  over  one  hundred  per  cent.  Dur- 
ing the  same  period  the  debt  of  New  York  City  had  risen  from 
$276,000,000  to  $723,000,000,  or  over  one  hundred  and  sixty 
per  cent.  In  the  same  space  of  time  the  entire  national  debt  had 
grown  from  $969,000,000  to  $1,015,000,000,  or  four  and  eight- 
tenths  per  cent.9 

If  the  per  capita  increase  is  considered  it  will  be  found  that 
in  spite  of  the  rapid  growth  of  the  cities,  in  the  group  under  con- 
sideration, the  per  capita  increase  in  debt  had  grown  from  $44  to 
$67,  and  in  New  York  from  $76  to  $145. 

Municipal  debts  may  be  classified  in  various  ways,  for  ex- 
ample: as  funded,  floating  and  current,  or  as  gross  and  net 
debts.  Funded  debts  are  those  which  are  evidenced  by  bonds  or 
certificates  of  indebtedness  upon  which  interest  is  to  be  paid  and 
which  have  a  considerable  time  to  run,  but  for  the  amortization 
of  which  no  assets  other  than  those  of  sinking  funds  have  been 
specifically  provided.  Floating  debts  are  those  for  which  no 
long  term  obligations  have  been  issued  and  for  the  payment  of 
which  no  funds  have  been  specifically  provided.  These  are 
chiefly  evidenced  by  short  time  notes,  including  loans  in  anticipa- 
tion of  taxes.  Current  debts  are  those  for  the  payment  of  which 
provision  is  already  made  by  cash  on  hand,  by  revenues  levied 
but  not  collected,  or  by  other  assets  appropriated  for  the  pur- 
pose. The  gross  debt  is  the  total  of  all  debts  outstanding,  while 

9  Bureau  of  the  Census,  "County  and  Municipal  Indebtedness,  1913, 
1902,  1890." 


FINANCIAL  ADMINISTRATION  417 

the  net  debt  is  the  gross  debt  less  all  assets  specifically  provided 
for  its  repayment.10 

Purpose  and  Justification  of  Municipal  Debts.  As  in  a  private 
business,  the  justification  of  a  municipal  debt  is,  primarily,  to  be 
found  in  the  purpose  for  which  it  is  incurred,  and,  secondarily, 
in  the  arrangements  for  its  proper  repayment.  Considered  with 
respect  to  the  purpose  for  which  they  were  incurred,  debts  may 
be  for  current  expenses,  for  permanent  improvements  or  for 
public  utilities.11 

Current  expenses  should  be  paid  out  of  current  taxes  and 
should  not  be  made  a  source  of  debt  except  in  the  case  of  loans 
in  anticipation  of  taxes  which  should  be  extinguished  from  the 
proceeds  of  the  next  tax  levy.  Unfortunately,  in  many  in- 
stances, such  loans  have  not  been  so  extinguished,  but  have  ac- 
cumulated and  have  been  made  a  part  of  the  funded  debt  of  the 
city.  This  indefensible  policy  has  saddled  upon  the  future  not 
only  the  cost  of  that  which  the  past  has  consumed  but  also  an 
added  burden  of  interest. 

In  the  making  of  permanent  improvements  it  has  been  seen 
that  some  have  been  of  such  benefit  to  surrounding  property 
that  a  portion  of  their  cost  may  be  charged  to  the  property 
owners  affected.  It  is  usually  necessary  for  the  city  to  assume  a 
part  of  the  cost  of  improvement  even  in  such  cases.  There  are 
also  permanent  improvements  the  benefits  from  which  are  so 
general  that  their  cost  must  be  borne  by  the  whole  city.  Such 
are,  particularly,  trunk  sewers,  public  buildings,  fire  alarm  sys- 
tems, and  sewage  and  garbage  disposal  plants.  Such  improve- 
ments may  sometimes  be  paid  for  from  current  taxes,  but  usually 
the  initial  cost  is  so  large  that  to  make  a  tax  levy  sufficiently 
large  to  pay  the  whole  in  a  single  year  would  work  undue 
hardship.  Furthermore  the  improvement  in  question  is  ex- 
pected to  endure  and  render  service  for  a  considerable  period  of 
time.  It  is  held  to  be  no  more  than  just,  then,  that  those  who  are 
to  enjoy  its  benefits  in  the  future  should  be  made  to  pay  their 
share  of  the  original  cost.  Under  these  circumstances  it  is  cus- 

10  Bureau  of  the  Census,  "Financial  Statistics  of  Cities,"  1917,  pp.  41-43. 

11  James,  "Municipal  Functions,"  p.  328. 


418  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

ternary  to  incur  an  initial  debt  the  payment  of  which  shall  be 
distributed  over  a  period  of  years. 

A  third  cause  of  municipal  indebtedness  is  the  purchase  or 
erection  of  public  utility  plants.  Although  the  initial  expense 
is  large,  the  plant  should  be  so  conducted  that  not  only  will 
the  interest  on  the  investment  be  met,  but  a  fund  provided  for 
the  ultimate  amortization  of  the  initial  cost  of  the  property,  out 
of  the  proceeds  of  operation.  Where  such  financial  arrange- 
ments have  been  made  and  measures  taken  for  the  businesslike 
administration  of  the  enterprise,  the  borrowing  is  justified  and 
may  be  considered  an  evidence  of  thrift  rather  than  of  un- 
thrift. 

Municipal  Securities.  The  question  of  the  repayment  of  mu- 
nicipal debts  may  be  approached  through  a  study  of  the  securities 
issued  by  the  city.  Municipal  securities  issued  as  evidence  of 
debt  fall  into  two  classes:  short-time  and  long-time  securities. 
Short-time  loans,  known  variously  as  warrants,  notes,  revenue 
bonds  and  anticipation  tax  loans,  are  ordinarily  payable  from 
the  proceeds  of  the  tax  levy  of  the  current  year  or  of  the  years 
in  the  immediate  future,  and  may  or  may  not  bear  interest. 
These  form  but  an  inconsiderable  part  of  the  city  debt.  Through 
bad  financing,  as  has  been  above  pointed  out,  these  loans  may  re- 
main unpaid  and  finally  be  incorporated  in  the  bonded  debt  of 
the  city. 

Long-time  loans  are  represented  by  securities  of  two  kinds, 
known  as  sinking  fund  bonds  and  serial  bonds,  which  together 
make  up  the  funded  debt  of  the  city.  When  sinking  fund  bonds 
are  issued  the  whole  debt  falls  due  at  the  same  time  which  is  the 
date  of  maturity  of  the  whole  issue  of  bonds.  It  is  provided  that 
each  year  there  shall  be  paid  into  a  sinking  fund  an  amount  such 
that  the  sum  of  the  annual  payments  together  with  accumulated 
interest  shall  be  sufficient  to  extinguish  the  whole  issue  of  bonds 
at  maturity.  In  practice  the  sinking  fund  system  has  been  sub- 
ject to  great  abuses.  It  has  repeatedly  happened  that  the  appro- 
priating authority  has  failed  to  pay  into  the  sinking  fund  the 
appointed  annual  payments.  In  other  instances  the  city  has  bor- 
rowed its  sinking  funds  giving  as  security  its  own  bonds,  and 
in  still  other  cases,  where  the  payments  to  the  sinking  fund 


FINANCIAL  ADMINISTRATION  419 

have  been  regularly  made,  the  funds  have  been  managed  with 
such  lack  of  skill  or  fidelity  that  at  the  maturity  of  the  bonds  the 
sinking  funds  have  been  insufficient  to  redeem  them. 

The  serial  bond  plan,  which  avoids  the  dangers  inherent  in  the 
attempt  to  accumulate  and  conserve  a  large  sum  of  public  money 
through  a  series  of  years,  has  been  growing  in  popularity  within 
recent  years.  By  this  plan  the  bonds  securing  a  loan  are  divided 
into  groups  or  series  and  the  several  series  of  bonds  fall  due  in 
successive  years  until  the  whole  issue  is  extinguished.  When  the 
several  series  are  made  equal  as  to  principal  it  results  that,  as  the 
interest  charges  on  the  unpaid  series  decline  from  year  to  year, 
the  total  annual  charge  on  account  of  the  loan  grows  less  and 
less.  By  this  means  the  burden  is  still  further  equalized  from 
the  fact  that  the  annual  burden  of  the  loan  decreases  as  the 
charges  for  repairs  tend  to  increase  with  the  lapse  of  years.  A 
further  advantage,  when  a  wise  serial  plan  is  adopted,  is  that 
the  total  cost  of  the  loan  is  under  this  somewhat  less  than  under 
the  sinking  fund  plan. 

Since  one  of  the  arguments  in  justification  of  incurring  debts 
for  permanent  improvements  is  that  thereby  those  who  are  to 
enjoy  the  benefits  of  the  improvement  in  the  future  may  be 
made  to  contribute  to  the  cost,  it  follows  that  the  term  of  final 
payment  should  not  extend  beyond x the  life  of  the  improvement. 
To  do  otherwise  is  to  work  obvious  injury  to  succeeding  genera- 
tions. It  is,  therefore,  bad  finance  to  issue  bonds  of  the  same 
term  for  macadam  pavements  with  a  life  of  perhaps  five  years 
and  for  the  purchase  of  land  for  a  park  which  may  be  enjoyed 
by  many  generations.  It  is  not  uncommon,  however,  for  cities 
to  find  themselves  paying  for  the  first  cost  of  an  improvement 
long  after  the  improvement  has  been  worn  out.  A  degree  more 
reprehensible  is  the  failure  to  provide  any  funds  whatever  for 
the  payment  of  debts  of  justifiable  origin. 

Limitation  of  Indebtedness.  The  proneness  of  municipalities, 
like  individuals,  to  pay  for  present  enjoyments  with  future 
promises  and  to  postpone  the  date  of  ultimate  payment  has  led  to 
limitations  by  the  state  upon  municipal  borrowing.  These 
limitations  have  been  fixed  with  respect  to  the  total  amount  of 
indebtedness  to  be  permitted,  the  form  of  security  to  be  issued, 


420  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

and  the  term  for  which  they  are  to  run.  The  first  of  these  forms 
of  limitation  is  most  common  and  may  be  fixed  either  by  con- 
stitutional or  statutory  mandate.  It  is  usually  expressed  in 
terms  of  percentage  of  total  assessed  valuation,  though  some- 
times the  percentage  is  based  upon  real  estate  valuation  or  the 
annual  revenues  of  the  city.  The  percentage  of  valuation  varies 
from  two  to  ten  per  cent.  In  New  York  the  limit  is  fixed  at  ten 
per  cent  of  the  assessed  valuation  of  real  estate.  In  many  cases 
debts  beyond  a  specified  maximum  may  be  incurred  only  after 
a  referendum  vote.12  In  Massachusetts  both  the  form  of  the  se- 
curity and  the  term  of  the  loan  are  fixed  by  law.  The  sinking 
fund  system  has  been  abolished  in  favor  of  the  serial  plan  and 
the  term  varies  from  five  to  thirty  years  according  to  the  nature 
of  the  improvement.13  Thirty  years  are  fixed  as  the  maximum 
term  of  municipal  bonds  by  the  constitution  of  Pennsylvania.  It 
is  sometimes  provided,  however,  that  in  applying  the  legal  limita- 
tion debts  which  are  incurred  for  the  purchase  or  construction 
of  revenue  producing  public  utilities  shall  not  be  taken  into 
account. 

A  serious  objection  to  the  percentage  basis  of  limitation  is 
found  in  the  well  nigh  universal  tendency  to  under  assessment. 
Under  this  practice  a  percentage  limit  which  would,  on  a  basis 
of  true  values,  be  sufficiently  liberal,  may  be  so  seriously  re- 
stricted as  seriously  to  hamper  the  municipality  in  the  providing 
of  improvements  essential  to  the  elementary  needs  of  the  inhabit- 
ants. 

In  construing  the  limitations  thus  placed  upon  the  borrowing 
power  of  cities  the  courts  are  quite  strict,  giving  a  wide  interpre- 
tation to  the  words  "debt"  and  "indebtedness."  Furthermore, 
debts  incurred  for  other  than  public  purposes  are  held  void  on 
the  ground  that  since  debts  must  ultimately  be  paid  by  taxa- 
tion, they  are  subject  to  the  same  limitation  as  to  purpose  as  is 
the  power  to  tax. 

12  Secrist,  "Economic  Analysis  of  the  Constitutional  Restrictions  upon 
Public  Indebtedness  in  the  United  States,"  Bulletin,  Univ.  of  Wisconsin, 
No.  637,  p.  75. 

is  Acts  and  Resolves,  Massachusetts,  1913,  Chap.  719.  In  New  Jersey 
the  term  of  the  loan  is  determined  upon  the  same  principle  as  in  Massa- 
chusetts, Laws  of  New  Jersey,  1916,  Chap.  252;  1917,  Chap.  240. 


FINANCIAL  ADMINISTRATION  421 

The  fundamental  difficulty  with  attempts  to  limit  municipal 
indebtedness  in  the  United  States  is  that  the  control  exercised  is 
legislative  rather  than  administrative.  It  is  therefore  inflexible, 
applying  alike  to  all  cities  and  under  all  conditions.  There  can 
be  no  percentage  of  debt  to  assessed  valuation  which  is  a  priori 
correct,  nor  can  any  percentage  limit  apply  with  equal  pro- 
priety to  different  municipalities.  The  justification  for  the  total 
of  indebtedness  in  each  case  is  to  be  sought  in  all  the  circum- 
stances surrounding  that  case  and  this  can  be  determined  only 
by  an  administrative  authority  acting  under  general  law. 
Strong  evidence  of  the  impropriety  of  fixed  percentage  limita- 
tions is  to  be  found  in  the  wide  variation  in  percentages  fixed  by 
different  states.14 

Upon  the  continent  of  Europe,  and  to  a  less  degree  in  England, 
the  control  of  the  power  of  the  cities  to  incur  debt  is  exercised  by 
an  administrative,  rather  than  by  a  legislative  authority.  In 
England  the  law  which  authorizes  municipal  borrowing  fixes  a 
limit  beyond  which  debt  may  not  be  incurred  without  the  con- 
sent of  an  administrative  authority,  and  also  a  maximum  period 
for  the  repayment  of  loans.  Within  this  maximum  limit  the 
exact  term  of  the  loan  is  determined  by  the  same  central  au- 
thority. This  central  authority  is  in  most  cases  the  Local  Gov- 
ernment Board,  which  acts  after  local  inquiry  by  its  staff  of 
trained  inspectors.15  In  Prussia  the  incurring  of  any  debt 
which  increases  the  debt  of  the  city  must  receive  the  approval 
of  the  central  government. 

In  very  rare  instances  is  any  provision  made  for  a  special  ap- 
peal to  the  legislature  for  the  increase  of  the  debt  limit.  This, 
however,  is  done  in  France  by  the  law  of  1884  and  is  almost  the 
only  instance  of  the  exercise  by  the  legislature  of  a  control  over 
cities  by  means  of  special  legislation.  In  England,  on  the  con- 
trary, a  limit  to  the  indebtedness  of  cities  is  fixed  by  statute, 
but  within  that  limit  the  approval  of  the  debt  by  an  adminis- 
trative authority  of  the  central  government  must  very  commonly 
be  secured  in  order  that  the  debt  may  be  incurred.  This  ap- 

i*  Secrist,   "Problems  of  Municipal  Indebtedness,"  Journal  of  Account- 
ancy, Vol.  XVII,  p.  273. 
is  Ibid.,  pp.  271  et  seq. 


422  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

proval  may  be  refused  both  because  of  the  amount  of  the  in- 
debtedness of  the  particular  city  and  because  in  the  opinion  of 
the  supervisory  authorities  the  purpose  for  which  the  debt  is  to 
be  incurred  is  not  a  proper  one. 

In  all  these  cases  the  power  to  incur  debts  is  vested  in  the 
council  or  the  executive  authorities  of  the  city  in  accordance 
with  the  position  which  has  been  assigned  to  these  bodies.  In 
England  the  power  is  vested  in  the  council ;  in  France  the  rule  is 
the  same,  because  of  the  fact  that  the  power  is  regarded  as  legis- 
lative in  character.  In  Germany  the  power  is  exercised  by  the 
council  and  the  executive ;  in  the  United  States  the  council  must 
ordinarily  take  action,  but  the  executive  must  in  nearly  all  cases 
participate  as  a  result  of  his  power  to  veto. 

Municipal  Accounting.  The  inefficiency,  waste  and  corruption 
which  have  so  often  been  the  reproach  of  American  city  govern- 
ment have  arisen  and  have  been  perpetuated  in  larger  degree 
through  lack  of  information  on  the  part  of  the  citizens  with  re- 
spect to  the  city 's  business.  The  methods  of  accounting  and  re- 
porting in  use  in  a  great  majority  of  the  cities  of  this  country 
have  been  so  clumpy,  inaccurate  and  incomplete  that  they  have 
been  of  little  value  as  sources  of  information  either  for  the 
mayor  and  council  or  for  the  public.  The  accounts  should  serve 
as  evidence  both  of  economy  in  administration  and  of  the  fidelity 
of  officials,  but  too  often  they  have  been  mere  records  of  receipts 
and  expenditures  designed  to  testify  to  the  fidelity  of  those  hav- 
ing the  custody  of  funds,  but  revealing  little  besides.  Indeed,  in 
but  few  cities  of  moderate  size  is  there  any  requirement  of  law 
that  financial  reports  be  printed.  Mere  ascertainment  of 
fidelity  with  respect  to  fiduciary  obligations  should  surely  not  be 
the  sole  aim  of  the  accounting  system  of  a  great  business  corpora- 
tion such  as  the  modern  city  has  become.  Efficiency  and  economy 
of  administration  are  quite  as  important  of  determination  as  is 
integrity  of  public  servants. 

The  proper  function  of  municipal  accounting,  then,  is  "to  pro- 
duce complete,  accurate  and  prompt  information  about  business 
transactions  and  results."16  It  has  been  said  that  "to  do  this 

«  N.  Y.  Bureau  of  Municipal  Research,  Metz  Fund,  "Handbook  of  Munic- 
ipal Accounting,"  p.  9. 


FINANCIAL  ADMINISTRATION  423 

some  method  must  be  employed  which  will  insure  completeness, 
accuracy  and  promptness.  One  of  the  ends  also  to  be  reached  is 
to  locate  responsibility  for  waste,  inefficiency  and  infidelity;  an- 
other is  to  make  and  preserve  the  evidence  of  efficiency  and 
proper  regard  for  the  duties  and  responsibilities  of  office.  To 
do  this  requires  that  each  act  be  recorded  in  such  manner  that 
the  evidence  may  be  preserved ;  that  the  many  facts  be  analyzed 
and  summarized  so  that  their  significance  may  be  readily  under- 
stood ;  that  the  results  be  promptly  reported ;  that  the  forms  of 
report  be  such  that  each  subject  of  immediate  concern  may  be 
brought  to  the  attention  of  the  officer  or  the  public;  and  that 
further  means  be  provided  for  knowing  whether  the  information 
thus  made  available  is  acted  upon."17 

A  primary  fact  which  both  the  official  and  the  citizen  should 
desire  to  know  is  how  the  city  stands  as  a  result  of  the  opera- 
tions of  the  past  year.  To  secure  the  means  of  appraising  the 
stewardship  of  the  past  financial  period  and  guidance  for  future 
planning  there  should  be  furnished  as  a  part  of  the  budget, 
financial  statements  showing  the  revenues  which  have  accrued  to 
the  city,  the  cost  of  operation  and  maintenance,  and,  finally,  a 
statement  of  the  assets  and  liabilities  or  balance  sheet.18 

Just  at  the  close  of  the  last  century  there  was  undertaken,  in 
this  country,  a  campaign  of  education  looking  to  an  improve- 
ment in  the  methods  of  municipal  accounting  and  reporting,  and 
as  a  result  there  has  been  a  marked  improvement  in  these  re- 
spects in  a  large  number  of  cities.  In  some  instances  provision 
has  been  made  by  the  city  for  regular  or  occasional  audits  either 
by  certified  accountants  or  by  special  accounting  officers  inde- 
pendent of  the  financial  department  of  the  city  government.  In 
other  instances  the  work  has  been  undertaken  by  the  state.  Cer- 
tainly no  political  reform  is  more  to  be  desired  than  that  the 
citizen  should  have  placed  before  him  in  simple  and  intelligible 
form,  complete,  prompt  and  accurate  statements  of  the  results  of 
the  city 's  business  operations. 

Administrative  Control  of  Debts  and  Accounting.    The  inef- 

"  N.  Y.  Bureau  of  Municipal  Research,  Metz  Fund,  "Handbook  of  Munic- 
ipal Accounting,"  p.  9. 
is  Ibid.,  p.  3. 


424  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

fectiveness  of  attempts  to  regulate  the  financial  operations  of 
cities  through  legislative  control  enforced  by  the  courts  has  been 
followed,  in  a  considerable  number  of  states,  by  recourse  to  a 
limited  degree  of  administrative  control.  As  a  first  step  there 
has  been  an  attempt  to  secure  the  benefits  of  publicity  and  com- 
parisons by  requiring  that  financial  data  shall  be  reported  by  the 
cities  to  some  central  authority  for  compilation  and  publication. 
Elsewhere  there  have  been  created  state  departments  of  accounts 
whose  functions  include  a  periodic  audit  of  the  accounts  of  all 
municipalities;  the  prescribing  of  uniform  systems  of  account- 
ing and  reporting,  and  the  publication  of  statistics  of  municipal 
finance. 

In  the  state  of  Massachusetts  the  further  steps  have  been 
taken  of  requiring  that  before  municipal  loans  can  be  floated 
they  must  be  submitted  to  a  state  official  for  a  certification  of 
genuineness  which  works  as  a  certificate  of  legality.  The  depart- 
ment is  authorized,  upon  the  request  of  a  municipality,  to  make 
an  audit  of  its  accounts  and  to  install  a  system  of  accounting.19 
While  in  that  state  individual  municipalities  may  seek  and  re- 
ceive legislative  permission  to  borrow  in  excess  of  the  estab- 
lished debt  limit,  such  permission  is  given  only  after  an  in- 
vestigation and  report  on  the  financial  condition  of  the  munici- 
pality made  to  the  appropriate  legislative  committee  by  the  same 
administrative  officer.  The  state  of  New  Jersey  has  created  a 
state  department  of  municipal  accounts,  but  its  activities  are  as 
yet  confined  to  the  supervision  of  sinking  funds.20 

The  chief  criticism  of  the  work  of  such  state  authorities  to 
the  present  time  is  that  their  attention  has  been  directed  to  the 
conservation  of  public  funds,  rather  than  to  the  work  of  making 
easily  accessible  to  the  citizens  in  simple  and  intelligible  terms 
information  as  to  the  financial  condition  and  operations  of  the 
city  government.  The  beginnings  already  made,  however,  point 
the  way  to  the  wide  control  of  municipal  finance  and,  it  is  to  be 

19  Gettemy,    "Municipal    Debts    in   Massachusetts,"   National   Municipal 
Review,  Vol.  II    (1913),  p.   531;    Gettehiy,  "New  Massachusetts  Legisla- 
tion Regulating  Municipal  Indebtedness,"  Ibid.,  Vol.  Ill   (1914),  p.  682. 

20  Laws  of  New  Jersey,  1917,  Chap.  154. 


FINANCIAL  ADMINISTRATION  425 

hoped,  to  the  ultimate  substitution  of  administrative  for  legis- 
lative control  of  the  whole  range  of  municipal  activities  with 
which  the  state  sees  fit  to  concern  itself. 

The  provisions  in  England  for  the  auditing  of  borough  ac- 
counts are  not  entirely  of  a  satisfactory  character.  The  Munici- 
pal Corporations  Act  provides  for  a  local  audit  only.  This  is 
made  semi-annually  by  three  borough  auditors,  two  of  whom  are 
elected  by  the  rate-payers,  while  the  other  is  a  member  of  the 
council  appointed  by  the  mayor.  This  local  audit  is  as  a  mat- 
ter of  fact  often  supplemented  by  the  audit  of  a  professional 
accountant,  employed  by  the  borough,  whose  report  is  published. 
In  some  cases  also,  by  special  act  of  Parliament,  provision  is 
made  for  an  audit  by  the  district  auditors  of  the  Local  Gov- 
ernment Board  at  London.  School  accounts  are  always  to  be 
audited  by  the  Local  Government  Board.  The  law  also  requires 
the  treasurer,  after  the  second  semi-annual  audit,  to  publish  a 
full  abstract  of  his  accounts,  and  the  town  clerk  to  forward  to 
the  Local  Government  Board  at  London  an  annual  report  of  the 
receipts  and  expenditures  for  the  year  made  up  in  accordance 
with  a  form  prescribed  by  the  Board. 

In  Prussia  the  rule  is  much  the  same  as  in  England,  i.e., 
the  audit  is  a  local  one,  but  the  accounts  are  filed  with  the  cen- 
tral government,  but  in  France  elaborate  provisions  are  made 
by  the  law  for  a  central  audit.  The  mayor's  account  of  his 
orders  of  payment,  it  has  been  shown,  is  submitted  to  the  coun- 
cil for  its  action  and  to  the  prefect  for  his  approval.  But  as 
the  mayor  never  handles  any  money  the  system  of  audit  would 
be  incomplete  were  no  further  step  taken.  Some  provision  must 
be  made  to  secure  honesty  upon  the  part  of  the  city  treasurer, 
who  actually  receives  and  pays  out  city  funds.  This  officer  must 
every  year  send  in  his  accounts,  which  consist  of  statements  of 
receipts  and  payments  with  accompanying  vouchers,  to  the  Court 
of  Accounts  at  Paris,  whose  members  are  appointed  for  life  by 
the  President.  The  duty  of  this  authority  is  to  see  that  the 
treasurer  accounts  for  all  the  money  he  has  received  either  by 
producing  orders  of  payment  issued  by  the  competent  authority, 
i.e.,  ordinarily  the  mayor,  or  a  cash  balance  for  the  remainder. 


426  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

The  Court  of  Accounts  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  legality  of  the 
orders  of  payments  issued  by  the  mayor,  who  alone  is  responsi- 
ble for  his  action  and  wht),  as  has  been  said,  accounts  to  the  city 
council  and  the  prefect. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

CONCLUSIONS 

Cities  Subordinate  Governments.  It  has  been  seen  that  the  ex- 
istence of  cities  is  due  in  large  measure  to  the  congregation  in 
favored  spots  of  large  numbers  of  persons  who  have  been 
moved  to  gather  at  these  spots  because  of  favorable  opportuni- 
ties for  carrying  on  occupations  incident  to  the  pursuit  of 
commerce  and  industry;  that  the  larger  cities  are  usually  com- 
mercial cities  whose  growth  during  the  past  three  centuries 
has  been  due  to  the  widening  of  the  area  over  which  trade  is 
carried  on  and  to  the  increase  in  length  of  the  trade  routes  of 
which  such  cities  are  the  termini;  that  the  effect  of  industry, 
different  from  that  of  commerce,  is  to  favor  the  development  of 
the  smaller  rather  than  the  larger  cities;  and  finally,  that  city 
populations  in  the  nature  of  things,  must,  and  as  a  matter  of 
fact  do,  have  the  qualities  which  characterize  the  commercial 
and  industrial  portions  of  the  community. 

It  has  also  been  seen  that  in  the  past  city  populations  have 
shown  themselves  incapable  of  themselves  attending  to  all  the 
functions  of  government  which  must  be  discharged  within  the 
municipal  area.  Only  twice  in  the  history  of  Europe  have 
cities  attempted  such  a  task,  once  during  the  period  when  the 
city-state  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans  flourished,  once  during  the 
period  of  the  revival  of  commerce  in  the  middle  ages.  In  the 
early  days  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans  the  city-state  flourished 
because  it  was  the  only  political  form  conceived  of  by 
Europeans.  In  the  middle  ages  the  city-state  again  emerged 
from  the  humble  conditions  in  which  it  was  placed  in  the  states 
growing  out  of  the  Roman  Empire,  because  it  was  only  through 
the  development  of  a  law  suited  to  commercial  needs  that  com- 
mercial populations  could  exist  and  develop,  and  because  in  the 
political  conditions  of  the  time  such  a  legal  development  could 
take  place  only  through  the  independent  action  of  the  com- 

427 


428  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

mercial  populations  of  which  the  cities  were  composed.  In  both 
cases,  when  the  area  of  commerce  widened  and  economic  units 
expanded,  the  independent  cities  fell  from  their  high  estate  and 
bcame  portions  of  greater  states  which  assumed  the  discharge  of 
most  of  the  functions  of  government  attended  to  by  the  cities  in 
the  days  of  their  independence.  At  the  time  that  the  administra- 
tive system  of  Constantine  was  established  and  again  at  the  time 
the  kings  and  princes  of  Europe  extended  their  authority  over 
the  cities,  hardly  a  function  of  government  was  left  to  the  cities 
to  discharge  independently  of  state  control. 

The  great  increase  of  urban  population  in  the  eighteenth  and 
nineteenth  and  the  present  centuries,  due  to  the  widening  of  the 
area  of  commerce  and  the  introduction  of  the  factory  system, 
has,  it  is  true,  caused  a  revival  of  the  idea  of  municipal  inde- 
pendence. The  very  increase  of  city  population  has  caused 
new  needs  to  develop,  largely  local  in  character,  to  which  atten- 
tion has  had  to  be  directed.  The  centralization  of  social  condi- 
tions in  all  highly  developed  communities,  however,  is  gradually 
depriving  these  branches  of  activity  of  their  merely  local  signifi- 
cance, and  causing  the  states  of  which  the  cities  are  parts  either 
themselves  to  assume  the  discharge  of  these  functions  or  to 
tighten  their  control  over  the  cities  where  they  have  been  per- 
mitted still  to  act. 

Cities  "Undemocratic.  The  gradual  centralization  of  social  con- 
ditions, to  which  allusion  has  been  made,  is  not,  it  is  believed, 
entirely  responsible  for  the  extension  of  the  state's  activity  at 
the  expense  of  the  city.  A  study  of  the  history  of  cities  can 
hardly  fail  to  convince  the  student  that  city  populations  have 
been  in  the  past  and  are  now  incapable,  without  assistance  from 
the  state,  of  securing  the  kind  of  government  which  is  demanded 
in  the  modern  western  world.  City  populations,  if  permitted 
to  develop  free  of  state  control,  evince  an  almost  irresistible  tend- 
ency to  establish  oligarchical  or  despotic  government.  They 
are  apparently  unable  of  themselves  to  organize  a  form  of  gov- 
ernment under  which  the  mass  of  the  city  population  will  not  be 
exploited  by  the  wealthy  few.  They  are1  therefore  not  permitted 
to  frame  their  own  charters,  which  are  conferred  upon  them  by 


CONCLUSIONS  429 

the  state.  This  is  the  policy  which  has  been  adopted  almost 
everywhere  throughout  the  western  European  world. 

The  only  apparent  exception  to  this  statement  is  to  be  found 
in  those  states  of  the  United  States  in  which  the  plan  of  "home- 
rule"  city-made  charters  has  been  put  into  force.  The  excep- 
tion here  is  less  significant  than  at  first  appears  because  the  con- 
ditions of  suffrage  under  these  charters  are  fixed,  not  by  the  city 
but  by  the  state,  because  many  constitutional  provisions  such  as 
those  imposing  debt  and  tax  limitations,  and  protecting  the  civil 
liberty  of  the  individual,  limit  the  city's  powers,  because  lim- 
itations are  sometimes  placed  upon  the  form  of  organization  to 
be  adopted,  and  lastly,  because  the  courts  of  the  states  concerned 
have  given  a  very  narrow  interpretation  to  the  rights  given  to 
cities  by  this  plan. 

Not  only  did  oligarchical  government  develop  in  most  Euro- 
pean cities  in  the  time  when  these  cities  organized  their  own 
form  of  government,  but  even  in  the  cities  of  the  United  States, 
where  the  formal  system  of  city  government  is  framed  by  the 
state,  a  system  of  boss  rule  has  commonly  developed  through  the 
operations  of  extra-legal  forces,  which  must  be  regarded  as  the 
result  of  the  existing  social  conditions. 

The  cities  of  the  western  world  corroborate  thus  the  theory  of 
social  causation  propounded  by  Giddings.1  Giddings'  funda- 
mental propositions  as  stated  in  his  own  words  are :  ' '  First,  that 
the  character  of  the  environment  determines  the  composition  of  a 
population  as  more  or  less  heterogeneous,  more  or  less  compound, 
second,  that  the  composition  of  the  population  determines  its 
mental  characteristics,  its  potentialities  of  cooperation,  its 
capacity  for  progress,  its  ideals,  and  its  organization  as  more  or 
less  democratic." 

Environments  in  which  population  can  exist  are  classified  as 
poor  or  rich  from  the  point  of  view  of  their  resources,  and  as 
accessible  or  inaccessible  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  ease 
with  which  population  may  congregate  therein.  In  an  environ- 
ment which  is  at  the  same  time  rich  and  accessible  the  popula- 

i  "A  Theory  of  Social  Causation,"  Proceedings  of  American  Economic 
Association,  Third  Series,  Vol.  V,  No.  5. 


430  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

tion  will  be  large  because  of  the  ability  of  the  environment  to 
support  a  large  population,  and  heterogeneous  because  the  popu- 
lation attracted  by  the  resources  has  been  able  to  congregate 
there  on  account  of  its  accessibility. 

"Generalizing,"  Giddings  concludes,  "we  may  say  that  the 
heterogeneous  community  is  normally  autocratic  or  oligarchical 
in  organization.  If  the  leaders  can  inspire  fear,  their  rule  is 
despotic.  If  they  can  inspire  veneration,  their  rule  is  authori- 
tative. If  they  can  inspire  admiration  and  confidence  and  con- 
fer favors,  their  power  is  the  rule  '  of  the  boss. '  ' 

Now,  in  cities  we  have  an  environment  rich  in  resources  and 
therefore  supporting  a  large  population  which  on  account  of 
the  accessibility  of  the  environment  is  heterogeneous  in  char- 
acter. It  is  composed  of  persons  who  have  migrated  to  the  city 
from  a  distance,  which  is  likely  to  be  great  where  the  city  is 
a  large  one.  In  the  large  cities  of  the  United  States,  e.g.,  this 
population  has  in  large  degree  come  even  from  countries  alien  to 
this  country,  from  the  political,  religious  and  racial  points  of 
view.  To  this  heterogeneity  due  to  the  fact  of  congregation  we 
have  a  further  heterogeneity  due  to  great  inequality  in  the  dis- 
tribution of  wealth  and  difference  in  the  degree  of  intelligence. 
A  further  cause  of  heterogeneity  is  found  in  the  existence  of 
classes  due  to  the  ease  of  class  organization  in  cities  and  to  the 
fact  that  so  few  voters  are  taxpayers. 

The  tendency  of  cities  to  develop  oligarchical  government  must 
be  borne  in  mind  when  the  attempt  is  made  to  determine  the 
position  which  is  to  be  accorded  to  the  city  in  the  general  gov- 
ernmental system  and  the  organization  with  which  the  city  is  to 
be  endowed. 

State  Control.  The  interests  both  of  the  state  as  a  whole  and 
of  the  city  populations  themselves  require  that  the  state  shall 
have  a  control  not  only  over  the  organization  of  the  city  but 
also  over  the  discharge  by  it  of  the  functions  which  may  be 
granted  to  it.  If  leaders  of  the  boss  type  inevitably  develop  in 
cities  and  if  city  voters  are  subject  to  the  influence  of  bribes  and 
favors,  the  state  must  see  to  it  that  the  law  of  the  city  organiza- 
tion is  so  changed  as  to  force  these  leaders  into  a  position  of  re- 
sponsibility and  to  prevent  the  venal  voter  from  controlling  the 


CONCLUSIONS  431 

city  government.  If  these  results  cannot  be  secured  in  a  given 
city  and  the  oligarchical  rule  which  is  actually  established,  what- 
ever may  be  the  character  of  the  formal  system  of  government, 
becomes  so  oppressive  and  the  weaker  classes  are  so  despoiled  by 
those  of  greater  strength  as  to  make  impossible  the  conservation 
of  the  interests  of  the  city  population,  the  exercise  of  govern- 
mental power  by  that  population  must  be  curtailed  and  the  dis- 
charge of  more  of  the  functions  of  government  must  be  en- 
trusted to  the  authorities  of  the  state  which,  on  account  of  the 
relatively  greater  homogeneity  of  its  population,  will  be  more 
likely  to  exercise  justly  governmental  power. 

The  control  which  it  is  recognized  that  the  state  should  have 
over  the  city  should,  however,  be  so  organized  that  it  will  be 
used  only  when  necessary  to  protect  the  interests  of  the  state 
and  further  the  welfare  of  the  urban  population  as  a  whole. 
The  experience  of  the  western  world  would  seem  to  prove  that 
administrative  rather  than  legislative  control  is  the  kind  of  con- 
trol which  will  secure  the  desired  results.  Administrative  con- 
trol has  been  most  successful  when  combined  with  the  grant  to 
cities  of  wide  powers  as  to  local  matters,  powers  so  wide  as  to 
make  unnecessary  appeal  to  the  legislature  when  it  is  desired 
to  extend  the  sphere  of  activity  or  to  change  the  details  of  the 
organization,  of  a  particular  city. 

If,  however,  it  is  decided  that  power  may  safely  be  entrusted 
to  a  city  population  some  method  for  its  exercise  which  is  suited 
to  the  local  conditions  must  be  devised.  It  must  be  remem- 
bered always  that  in  urban  populations,  which  are  most  hetero- 
geneous in  character,  particularly  so  in  the  United  States,  social 
cooperation  is  difficult  and  the  formation  of  classes  easy;  and 
that  the  functions  of  city  government  are  highly  technical  in 
character  and  require  for  their  discharge  the  expenditure  of 
such  large  sums  of  money  that  unless  economy  is  the  rule  and 
great  discretion  is  exercised  the  resources  of  the  city  will  be  ex- 
hausted long  before  the  work  which  ought  to  be  done  is  done,  not- 
withstanding the  fact  that  the  cities  contain  the  most  produc- 
tive part  of  the  population. 

Form  of  Government  Suited  to  Urban  Populations.  The  form  of 
government  which  most  cities  should  have  is  one  which  is  cal- 


432  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

culated  to  secure  under  most  adverse  conditions  both  social  co- 
operation and  technical  efficiency.  Few  city  officers  should  be 
elected.  For  the  necessity  of  electing  many  officers  both  con- 
fuses the  voters  and  makes  them  the  victims  of  designing  and 
selfish  political  leaders,  while  it  forces  them  to  judge  of  the 
technical  qualifications  of  candidates,  which  is  beyond  their 
capacity.  Many  elective  officers  produce  a  boss-ridden  city  and 
an  inefficient  administration.  Furthermore,  city  populations 
should  not  be  called  upon  to  vote  for  city  officers  elected  at  large. 
For  groups  of  persons  representing  the  class  interests  which 
are  always  present  in  heterogeneous  populations  find  it  so  diffi- 
cult to  unite,  that  elections  by  general  ticket  frequently  result  in 
the  election  by  well  organized  minorities  of  candidates  not  repre- 
sentative of  the  majority,  which  has  found  it  impossible  to  unite. 

This  conclusion  in  favor  of  district  elections,  while  borne  out 
by  the  experience  of  Europe,  particularly  of  Great  Britain  and 
Germany,  is  of  course  not  one  which  appeals  to  American  opin- 
ion. In  the  United  States  district  representation  in  city  gov- 
ernment is  no  longer  regarded  with  favor  by  most  persons  who 
have  made  a  study  of  American  conditions,  although  most  city 
councils  in  the  United  States  are,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  elected  by 
districts.  The  election  at  large  by  the  voters  of  the  most  im- 
portant city  officers  such  as  the  mayor,  who  of  late  years  has 
been  continually  increasing  in  power,  and  the  rapid  develop- 
ment of  the  commissiou  system  of  city  government,  which  is 
based  on  the  general  ticket,  are  indications  that  the  people  gen- 
erally have  come  to  disapprove  of  the  method  of  district  repre- 
sentation. But  that  district  representation  is  the  proper  method 
for  organizing  the  controlling  municipal  authority  is  amply 
proven  by  theory,  experience  and  present  practice. 

If,  however,  American  city  populations  actually  find  it  im- 
possible to  secure  competent  representatives  under  the  district 
system  and  have  to  resort  to  elections  at  large,  the  attempt  ought 
to  be  made  by  some  system  of  proportional  representation,  in  ac- 
cordance with  which  the  voter  is  permitted  to  express  his  second 
as  well  as  his  first  choice,  the  second  choices  to  be  accorded 
weight  only  when  the  first  choices  do  not  elect,  to  prevent  the 
election  by  minorities  of  officers  elected  at  large.  Finally,  if 


CONCLUSIONS  433 

power  were  denied  to  a  council  formed  of  district  representatives 
to  increase  the  estimates  proposed  by  the  city  executive  authori- 
ties, the  efficiency  of  such  a  council  would  be  increased,  since  the 
selfish  particularism  of  the  individual  members  would  be  di- 
minished. 

Organization  Should  be  Simple.  Whatever  plan  of  representa^ 
tion  is  adopted,  the  supreme  powers  of  the  city  should  be  con- 
centrated in  some  one  authority.  Only  in  this  way  is  it  pos- 
sible for  the  city  population,  which  finds  it  so  difficult  under  the 
most  favorable  conditions  to  cooperate,  to  exercise  a  control 
over  the.  city  government.  When  governmental  powers  are  dis- 
tributed among  many  officers  and  authorities  each  one  of  whom 
is  within  the  limits  of  the  statutes  a  law  unto  himself,  official 
responsibility  for  acts  of  government  is  so  difficult  of  attain- 
ment as  to  be  practically  impossible  except  in  a  most  homogen- 
eous population  and  in  political  conditions  of  the  greatest  sim- 
plicity. The  only  way  to  ensure  a  popular  control  over  city 
government  in  the  conditions  which  obtain  in  modern  cities  is  to 
focus  the  attention  of  the  voters  upon  a  single  person  whose 
character  and  views  are  well  known.  This  can  be  done  practi-. 
cally  only  under  a  system  of  single  district  representation 
where  the  representatives  of  the  single  districts  form  collectively 
the  supreme  municipal  authority  and  can  perhaps  best  be  at- 
tained, while  at  the  same  time  securing  centralized  administra- 
tive responsibility,  by  applying  the  principle  in  conjunction 
with  the  city  manager  plan  of  organization.  If  the  attempt  is 
made  to  provide  a  council  or  commission  whose  members  are 
elected  at  large,  individual  gives  way  to  party  responsibility. 
Of  course  it  is  true  that  under  the  single  district  system  of  repre- 
sentation party  responsibility  plays  an  important  role,  but  it  does 
not  absolutely  displace  individual  responsibility  as  is  the  case 
where  elections  are  by  general  ticket. 

All  attempts  to  secure  popular  control  over  city  government 
will  probably  be  vain  which  do  not  base  themselves  on  the  funda- 
mental ideas  of  few  elective  officers  and  great  concentration  of 
municipal  powers.  There  are  many  reasons  for  believing  that 
direct  primaries  combined  with  numerous  elective  officers  and  a 
system  of  city  government  which  apportions  governmental 


434  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

powers  among  a  long  series  of  independent  officers  and  authori- 
ties will  do  little  to  remedy  existing  evil  conditions,  for  the 
voters  do  not  know  and  cannot  know  enough  to  act  intelli- 
gently in  selecting  either  candidates  or  officers.  Thus,  individual 
responsibility  is  lost.  Because  of  the  difficulty  under  direct 
primaries  of  keeping  up  the  party  organization  either  party  re- 
sponsibility is  lost  as  well  through  the  disorganization  of  parties, 
or  where  organized  parties  are  retained  with  the  accompanying 
party  responsibility  this  result  is  secured  only  through  the 
expenditure  of  a  vast  amount  of  time  and  money.  Politics  be- 
comes even  more  professional  than  under  other  conditions.  Ad- 
ministrative efficiency  is  sacrificed  through  the  more  frequent  be- 
stowal of  office  as  reward  for  political  service,  while  the  money 
necessary  to  carry  on  the  campaign  is  secured  either  by  bestow- 
ing office  upon  men  wealthy  enough  to  pay  the  bill  or  by  selling 
legislation  and  privilege.  It  may  be  said  that  this  is  what  now 
happens  in  the  cities  of  the  United  States  where  direct  primaries 
are  not  in  existence.  It  is  undoubtedly  the  case  that  such  a 
statement  is  true.  But  there  is  nothing  in  the  system  of  direct 
primaries  which  is  calculated  to  prevent  a  recurrence  of  present 
evils  and  there  is  much  to  make  us  fear  that  their  introduction 
will  aggravate  those  evils.  One  advantage  which  direct  prima- 
ries will  have,  however,  will  be  to  beat  in  upon  the  political 
consciousness  of  the  people  among  whom  they  are  adopted, 
through  their  failure  to  remedy  existing  evils,  the  conviction 
that  popular  control  of  city  government  is  impossible  of  attain- 
ment until  the  system  of  government  is  simple  and  the  attention 
of  the  voters  is  focused  on  a  very  few  offices. 

Municipal  Suffrage.  A  system  of  city  government  which  is 
based  upon  concentration  of  power  and  few  elective  officers  may 
be  unsatisfactory  if  persons  who  have  no  permanent  interest  in 
the  city  are  permitted  to  participate  in  the  selection  of  city  of- 
ficers. It  may  be  laid  down  as  a  fundamental  proposition  that 
few  persons  may  with  safety  be  permitted  to  vote  at  city  elec- 
tions who  are  not  permanent  residents  of  the  city.  It  is  of  course 
possible  without  incurring  serious  danger  to  grant,  as  is  done  in 
England,  France  and  Italy,  the  right  to  vote  to  non-residents 
who  pay  taxes  in  the  city,  since  the  number  of  such  persons  is, 


CONCLUSIONS  435 

as  compared  with  the  total  number  of  persons  entitled  to  vote, 
so  small  that  they  can  exercise  little  influence  in  the  elections. 
If,  however,  the  right  to  vote  in  city  elections  is,  as  has  been 
the  case  in  some  of  the  states  of  the  United  States,  granted  to 
every  male  citizen  of  the  state  who  has  resided  in  the  city  ten 
days  before  election,  many  persons  who  really  have  no  perma- 
nent interest  in  the  city  are  given  a  privilege  which  they  find  it  to 
their  personal  advantage  to  dispose  of  to  the  highest  bidder. 
The  result  will,  in  the  conditions  which  exist  in  most  cities  in 
the  United  States,  be  the  colonization  and  bribery  of  voters  to  an 
extent  which  may  nullify  the  action  of  those  persons  really  in- 
terested in  the  welfare  of  the  city.  No  form  of  city  government, 
however  excellent  it  may  be,  will  work  satisfactorily  under  such 
conditions. 

Furthermore,  while  mere  permanent  residence  in  a  city  is 
probably  indicative  of  the  existence  in  the  average  voter  of  an 
economic  interest  in  the  city,  the  psychology  of  many  voters  is 
such  that  they  are  not  conscious  of  their  economic  interests  un- 
less the  appeal  which  may  be  made  to  them  reaches  that  most 
sensitive  nerve  center,  the  pocket.  For  this  reason,  if  we  would 
secure  an  economical  city  government,  which  is  one  of  the  most 
important  desiderata  in  times  like  the  present  when  demands  on 
the  financial  resources  of  city  are  so  great,  we  should  so  arrange 
our  system  of  taxation  as  to  secure  the  most  numerous  possible 
class  of  taxpaying  voters  the  amount  of  whose  taxes  each  year 
depends  upon  the  way  in  which  the  city  government  is  being 
managed.  The  American  method  of  imposing  the  tax  from 
which  most  of  the  city's  receipts  are  derived,  upon  the  owners 
of  property,  while  facilitating  the  collection  of  the  tax,  is  ac- 
companied by  a  most  serious  disadvantage.  This  is  in  most 
cities,  where  the  number  of  property  owners  is  very  small,  the 
formation  of  a  small  class  of  voters  who  pay  all  the  taxes,  and 
a  large  class  who  directly  and  consciously  pay  none.  The  for- 
mer are  inclined  to  resist  all  attempts  on  the  part  of  the  city  to 
discharge  even  necessary  functions  of  government  which  involve 
large  expenditure,  the  latter,  not  feeling  directly  an  increase  in 
the  taxes,  a  part  of  which  they  really  pay  in  the  shape  of  in- 
creased rent,  hurry  the  city  into  undertakings,  which,  however 


436  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

useful  they  may  be,  are  in  excess  of  the  city's  economic  re- 
sources. Where  such  a  system  of  taxation  is  combined,  as  in 
the  United  States,  with  universal  suffrage,  the  only  thing  to  do 
is  to  limit  by  state  law,  as  is  done  in  that  country,  the  power  of 
the  city  to  levy  taxes  and  incur  debt. 

Unpaid  Service.  Attention  has  been  called  to  the  fact  that 
classes  are  very  liable  to  develop  in  cities  the  existence  of  which 
adds  to  the  difficulties  of  city  government.  If  the  form  and 
methods  of  government  can  be  used  so  as  to  diminish  the  evil 
effects  of  class  interest  and  cultivate  a  sense  of  social  solidarity, 
they  .should  of  course  be  made  use  of  for  that  purpose.  One  of 
the  contentions  of  Gneist,  the  great  student  of  English  political 
and  social  institutions,  and  the  founder  of  the  present  system  of 
rural  local  government  in  Prussia,  was  that  the  best  way  to  com- 
bat class  interest  through  political  institutions,  is  to  oblige  the 
people  to  assume  the  active  discharge  of  administrative  func- 
tions as  far  as  is  compatible  with  administrative  efficiency. 
This  principle  has  been  applied,  it  is  believed  with  great  suc- 
cess, by  Prussian  cities,  in  each  of  which  hundreds  of  citizens 
are  daily  engaged  without  pay  in  aiding  the  more  important 
city  officers  in  the  performance  of  their  duties.  No  country  in 
the  western  European  world  has  relied  on  the  work  of  city  gov- 
ernment so  much  as  has  Prussia  upon  the  compulsory  unpaid 
service  of  her  citizens. 

Need  of  experts.  While  the  attainment  of  intelligent  social 
cooperation  will  of  itself  do  much  to  secure  good  city  govern- 
ment, the  best  city  government  will  not  have  been  secured  unless 
the  organization  established  for  the  discharge  of  municipal 
functions  is  technically  efficient.  The  discoveries  of  preventive 
medicine  and  social  investigation  have  shown  us  that  many  of  the 
evils  both  physical  and  moral  of  city  life  are  preventable  if  we 
act  with  foresight  and  intelligence. 

The  adoption  of  a  proper  city  plan,  well  constructed  sewers, 
convenient  means  of  transportation,  an  ample  supply  of  potable 
water,  good  housing  conditions,  a  wise  administration  of  an 
effective  health  and  building  law,  and  well  managed  schools 
which  teach  what  urban  populations  really  need,  all  these  things 
are  necessary  if  we  would  have  a  healthy  and  happy  city  life. 


CONCLUSIONS  437 

And  all  these  things  require  the  organization  of  a  permanent  and 
intelligent  administrative  personnel,  who  shall  exercise  the  wide 
powers  necessarily  granted  to  them  in  the  interest  of  the  city 
people,  and  who  shall  rigorously  refrain  from  using  these  powers 
in  the  interest  of  particular  classes  or  of  favored  individuals. 

How  to  organize  such  a  force  is  one  of  the  great  problems  in 
city  government.  For  if  we  accord  an  administrative  force  a 
position  which  is  too  permanent  in  character,  i.  e.,  too  much  re- 
lieved from  popular  control,  it  is  apt  to  become  arbitrary  in  its 
action  and  given  up  to  red  tape,  and  may  easily  degenerate  into 
an  engine  of  oppression,  which  is  used  to  further  individual  in- 
terest. If  we  may  judge  from  the  experience  of  the  western 
world  we  shall  probably  reach  the  conclusion  that  cities,  unaided 
by  the  state,  find  it  exceedingly  difficult  to  establish  and  perma- 
nently retain  such  an  expert  administrative  force.  The  cities  of 
Great  Britain,  it  is  true,  have  succeeded  in  doing  so  without  such 
aid,  but  in  the  cities  of  Prussia,  where  the  administrative  force 
has  been  probably  more  efficient  than  elsewhere,  the  qualifications 
of  city  officers  and  their  methods  of  appointment  have  been  fixed 
in  great  detail  by  state  law.  In  the  United  States,  on  the  other 
hand,  it  may  be  said  that  few  if  any  cities  have,  even  with  the 
aid  of  the  civil  service  laws  passed  by  the  state,  succeeded  in 
rescuing  from  the  operation  of  the  spoils  system  by  which  Ameri- 
can administrative  institutions  have  so  long  been  cursed,  any  but 
their  most  unimportant  employees.  Even  those  are  appointed 
for  almost  purely  political  reasons  in  most  cases  where  such  action 
is  not  forbidden  by  state  law. 

Civil  Service  Laws.  So  we  may  say  that  probably  the  best  way 
to  secure  technical  administrative  efficiency  is  through  state 
rather  than  local  action.  State  civil  service  laws  are  more 
effective  than  municipal  civil  service  ordinances.  Inasmuch, 
further,  as  the  crux  of  every  law  is  its  administration,  it  is  al- 
together probable  that  state  civil  service  laws  when  enforced  by 
state  civil  service  commissions  are  more  effective  in  securing 
efficient  employees  than  when  enforced  by  city  commissions. 

The  merit  system  of  appointment  as  we  know  it  in  the  United 
States,  is,  however,  under  the  most  favorable  conditions,  not 
adapted  to  insure  real  administrative  efficiency  in  city  govern- 


438  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

ment  since  it  affects  only  the  subordinate  grades  of  the  service. 
Something  must  be  done  to  insure  permanence  and  technical 
capacity  in  the  higher  grades.  In  England,  as  has  been  pointed 
out,  this  end  has  been  secured  through  the  existence  and  in- 
fluence of  an  enlightened  public  opinion  without  resorting  to 
legal  provisions  restricting  the  discretion  of  the  city  council  or 
its  committees  in  the  appointment  or  retention  of  subordinates. 
That  such  a  method  of  relying  upon  the  enlightened  self-interest 
of  city  electors  or  city  authorities  is  ineffective  in  the  conditions 
existing  in  American  cities  the  experience  of  those  cities  goes 
far  to  prove.  That  something  in  the  nature  of  state  legal  pro- 
vision with  regard  to  the  higher  officers  will  probably  do  much 
to  improve  the  service  is  seen  from  both  the  experience  of 
American  cities  in  the  case  of  the  unimportant  city  officers 
whose  character  has  been  much  improved  by  the  passage  and 
enforcement  of  state  civil  service  laws,  and  from  that  of  the 
cities  of  Prussia  where  the  civil  service  law  has  covered  the  higher 
as  well  as  the  lower  positions. 

It  is  doubtful,  however,  whether  the  same  methods  which 
have  been  adopted  in  the  United  States  with  reasonable  suc- 
cess for  appointment  to  the  lower  positions  can  be  adopted 
with  advantage  in  the  case  of  the  higher  positions.  Competi- 
tive examinations,  upon  which  the  greatest  reliance  is  placed  in 
the  system  of  appointment  adopted  in  the  United  States  and 
indeed  examinations  generally,  do  not  evidence  the  kind  of  ability 
demanded  of  the  occupants  of  the  higher  positions  in  a  municipal 
civil  service.  What  is  needed  is  the  capacity  developed  by 
theoretical  training  and  practical  experience,  in  which  judgment 
plays  an  important  role,  rather  than  that  evidenced  by  the  suc- 
cessful passing  of  an  examination,  which  lays  too  great  em- 
phasis on  mere  memory.  Therefore  any  system  of  appoint- 
ment to  the  higher  positions  in  a  municipal  civil  service  which  is 
incorporated  into  legal  provision  should  lay  great  emphasis  on 
the  successful  completion  of  courses  of  study  in  approved  insti- 
tutions, as  well  as  practical  experience  in  professional  work. 
Furthermore,  inasmuch  as  practical  experience  in  the  work  of  the 
city  itself  is  just  as  valuable  as,  if  not  more  valuable  than,  any 


CONCLUSIONS  439 

other  experience,  the  law  regulating  these  appointments  should 
secure  to  appointees  as  permanent  an  incumbency  in  the  positions 
held  as  is  consistent  with  the  other  needs  of  city  government. 

Tenure  of  City  Officers.  In  the  United  States,  however,  a  prej- 
udice against  permanent  officials  which  originated  in  the  days 
when  Andrew  Jackson  foisted  the  spoils  system  upon  the  coun- 
try, and  when  the  need  for  technical  ability  was  not  so  great  as 
at  present,  has  so  far  prevented  the  establishment  of  a  perma- 
nent service  in  our  cities.  This  prejudice  has  up  to  now  been 
only  partially  removed  by  the  successful  operation  of  civil  service 
laws. 

When  the  attempt  has  been  made  in  the  United  States  to  pro- 
tect officers  against  arbitrary  removal,  the  method  which  has 
been  generally  adopted  has  been  to  give  them  in  the  law  a  fixed 
term  of  a  given,  generally  a  small,  number  of  years.  The  pro- 
tection of  their  right  to  the  office  during  the  legal  term  has  been 
either  assumed  by  the  ordinary  courts  or  expressly  granted  to 
them  by  express  provision  of  law.  These  courts  have  in  their 
decisions  been  governed,  as  was  only  natural  for  such  bodies, 
by  the  strict  rules  of  law,  rather  than  by  administrative  needs. 
The  result  has  been  that  protected  tenure  of  office  during  the 
usually  short  terms  provided  has  lessened  the  disciplinary  power 
of  superior  officers  in  many  instances  to  the  disadvantage  of  the 
service,  without  giving  the  service  the  compensating  advantage 
of  permanence  of  incumbency.  In  the  few  cases  in  which  life 
terms  have  been  provided,  as  e.  g.,  in  the  police  and  school  serv- 
ice in  some  cities  like  New  York,  the  protection  of  the  official 
tenure,  secured  through  the  exercise  by  the  ordinary  courts  of 
the  power  to  reverse  the  decisions  of  superiors  removing  in- 
feriors, has  on  the  whole  had  an  even  worse  effect  on  the  official 
services  concerned,  since  it  has  made  it  practically  impossible 
for  superior  officers  to  get  rid  of  notoriously  corrupt  or  ineffi- 
cient subordinates  except  through  the  use  of  legal  proof  of  the 
commission  of  unlawful  acts  which  it  is  practically  impossible 
in  many  instances  to  obtain.  The  evil  effects  of  judicial  review 
in  these  cases  is  particularly  marked  in  the  case  of  the  police 
force.  The  New  York  courts  would  appear  to  have  been  con- 


440  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

vinced  of  the  evil  results  of  their  action  and  have  in  their  re- 
cent cases  been  careful  not  to  extend  their  power  over  other 
branches  of  the  service. 

In  the  case  of  short  official  terms  thus  judicially  protected  an- 
other evil  has  become  manifest,  particularly  in  the  case  of  the 
heads  of  the  various  municipal  administrative  branches.  A 
mayor  having  the  power  to  appoint  to  these  positions  has  usually 
been  extremely  reluctant  to  reappoint  persons  already  incum- 
bents of  the  offices  in  question,  since  knowing  he  may  not  freely 
remove  such  persons  from  office  he  has  preferred  to  appoint 
new  men  in  whom  he  personally  has  confidence.  The  result 
is  a  lack  of  permanence  of  incumbency  in  the  highest  positions 
in  the  municipal  services,  which  makes  administrative  efficiency 
in  city  government  well-nigh  impossible. 

In  the  conditions  legal  and  political  which  now  exist  in  most 
American  cities  the  proper  solution  of  this  most  important  ques- 
tion would  appear  to  be  so  to  limit  by  state  law  the  appointing 
power  of  the  highest  municipal  authorities  as  to  make  impossible 
the  appointment  of  technically  unqualified  persons.  This  may 
be  done  by  requiring  where  possible  from  candidates  for  the 
more  important  positions  in  the  municipal  service  evidence  of 
the  successful  completion  of  courses  of  study  and  a  certain  num- 
ber of  years  of  practical  experience.  The  proposal  made  by  the 
commission  appointed  to  revise  the  charter  of  the  city  of  Boston, 
that  appointment  to  the  higher  positions  such  as  heads  of  depart- 
ments should  be  conditioned  upon  obtaining  from  the  State  Civil 
Service  Commission  a  certificate  that  in  its  opinion  the  candidate 
is  fitted  to  perform  the  duties  of  the  office,  is  interesting  for  two 
reasons.  First,  it  is  evidence  of  a  feeling  that  some  change  must 
be  made  in  the  American  methods  of  filling  the  higher  positions 
in  the  city  services  demanding  the  possession  by  the  incumbents 
of  technical  ability,  and  secondly  it  shows  that  there  is  a  growing 
belief  that  large  cities  are  unable  without  the  aid  of  the  state 
to  solve  this  question. 

Furthermore,  officers,  when  appointed,  should  not  be  appointed 
for  a  fixed  term,  but  indefinitely,  subject  to  removal  at  any  time 
either  by  the  appointing  authority  after  giving  them  an  oppor- 
tunity to  be  heard,  the  decision  of  the  removing  authority  not  to 


CONCLUSIONS  441 

be  reviewable  by  the  courts,  or  as  the  result  of  some  sort  of  dis- 
ciplinary procedure  before  a  body  formed  partly  at  any  rate  of 
other  municipal  officers  which  should  not  be  governed  in  its 
actions  by  the  strict  rules  of  legal  proof  and  whose  determina- 
tions should  also  not  be  reviewable  by  the  courts. 

A  municipal  administrative  force  constituted  in  this  way 
would  probably  become  quite  permanent  in  character.  If  fear 
were  entertained  lest  it  should  not,  as  fully  as  might  be,  carry  out 
the  popular  will,  and  should  become  too  technical  in  character, 
resort  might  well  be  had  to  the  Prussian  device  of  placing  by  the 
side  of  each  of  these  technically  educated  and  permanent  pro- 
fessional officials  a  small  body  of  citizens  who  should  give  their 
services  without  pay  and  who  should  either  exercise  powers  of 
control  or  give  advice. 

Our  examination  of  the  position  and  organization  of  cities 
would  lead  us  to  the  belief  that  they  should,  as  subordinate  mem- 
bers of  the  state  in  which  they  are  situated,  be  entrusted  with 
large  powers  of  local  concern  to  be  exercised  under  the  control 
of  the  state  which  should  be  exercised  by  the  administrative 
rather  than  the  legislative  authority ;  that  they  should  be  given 
by  the  state  a  simple  compact  organization  which  is  under  the 
control  of  that  portion  of  the  city  population  really  interested  in 
the  welfare  of  the  city  and  which  should  be  so  framed  as  to 
make  it  by  law  necessary  that  persons  of  technical  capacity  be 
appointed  to  the  most  important  positions  with  an  indefinite 
term  of  office  subject  to  be  ended  only  for  incompetence  or  be- 
havior inconsistent  with  the  good  of  the  service. 

Municipal  Functions.  Our  study  of  city  government  should 
have  shown  us  also  that  the  functions  which  must  be  discharged 
within  a  city  are  dependent  upon  the  geographical  and  social 
conditions  obtaining  therein,  and  that  if  those  necessary  for  the 
highest  development  of  life  in  the  city  are  not  performed  satis- 
factorily by  private  initiative  their  discharge  must  be  assumed 
by  the  city  itself.  No  general  rule  can,  therefore,  be  laid  down 
as  to  the  sphere  of  municipal  activity.  In  some  cities  geograph- 
ical conditions  may  make  it  necessary  for  the  state  to  do  work 
which  might  in  other  cities  be  left  to  the  city  government.  In 
some  cities  conditions  may  be  such  that  private  initiative  is  to 


442  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

be  preferred  to  governmental  action  on  the  part  of  either  the  state 
or  the  city.  Again,  in  large  cities  the  problem  of  transportation 
assumes  an  importance  it  can  never  have  in  cities  of  smaller  size, 
and  its  solution  may  imperatively  demand  action  which  would 
be  unnecessary  elsewhere.  Finally,  the  industrial  character  of 
a  city  may  make  it  necessary  for  that  city  to  take  measures  for 
the  protection  of  infant  life  which  would  be  quite  unnecessary 
and  even  inexpedient  in  cities  where  social  and  economic  condi- 
tions and  the  prevailing  occupations  do  not  call  for  the  services 
of  married  women. 

It  must  also  be  remembered  that  the  character  and  extent  of  the 
sphere  of  activity  of  a  given  city  will  have  a  most  important 
effect  on  its  organization  which  must  expand  with  the  expansion 
of  the  city's  sphere  of  activity  and  will  undoubtedly  be  subject 
in  other  respects  to  its  influence.' 

In  other  words,  there  is  only  in  a  very  general  way  a  problem 
of  city  government.  For  each  city  is  peculiar  and  must  have 
an  organization  and  discharge  functions  suited  to  its  peculiar 
position.  Its  very  relations  to  the  state  are  peculiar  and  its 
position  in  the  state  system  must  depend  on  the  capacity  it  has 
for  self-government.  If  that  is  small  its  position  will  rightly 
be  one  of  considerable  dependence,  if  large,  it  may  be  entrusted 
with  large  powers  of  municipal  home  rule.  What  that  capacity 
is,  is  for  the  state  and  not  for  the  city  concerned  to  decide.  A 
city's  relations  to  the  state,  however,  should  be  such  that  the 
state  will  decide  the  question  not  for  improper  reasons  but  in 
view  of  the  most  nearly  complete  satisfaction  of  the  best  in- 
terests of  both  the  state  and  the  city. 

The  conditions  in  some  cities  are  such,  however,  as  to  cause  us 
to  have  grave  doubts  as  to  the  efficacy  of  any  change  in  the 
legal  and  political  relations  of  the  city.  We  can  hardly  help 
believing  that  the  economic  and  social  conditions  existing  in 
many  of  the  cities  of  the  United  States,  e.  g.,  are  such  as  to  make 
good  popular  city  government  extremely  difficult,  if  not  impos- 
sible of  attainment,  until  changes  in  those  conditions  have  been 
made.  On  that  account  attempts  to  reform  city  government  in 
the  United  States  should  not  be  confined  to  the  mere  structure  of 
city  government  nor  to  the  change  of  its  relation  to  the  state. 


CONCLUSIONS  443 

They  should  be  directed  as  well  to  the  improvement  of  the 
economic  and  social  conditions  of  the  urban  population. 

Almost  every  cause,  therefore,  which  is  dear  to  the  hearts  of  a 
certain  portion  of  the  people  has  an  important  influence  in  bet- 
tering urban  life.  Election  and  nomination  reform,  civil  service 
reform,  financial  reform,  and  administrative  reform  generally, 
will,  if  the  concrete  measures  adopted  are  well  considered,  im- 
prove the  political  conditions  of  American  cities.  Charity  re- 
form, child  labor  and  labor  reform  generally,  and  reform  in 
housing  conditions,  the  work  of  neighborhood  settlements,  and 
last  but  not  least,  the  efforts  of  the  various  churches  and  ethical 
societies,  will  do  much  to  ameliorate  social  and  economic  condi- 
tions. There  is  no  improvement  in  political  conditions  which 
does  not  aid  in  the  amelioration  of  social  conditions;  for  im- 
provement in  social  conditions  is  in  many  instances  possible  only 
where  the  political  organization  is  reasonably  good.  On  the 
other  hand,  there  is  no  improvement  in  social  conditions  which 
does  not  make  easier  the  solution  of  the  political  problem;  for 
the  difficulty  of  the  political  problem  in  cities  is  in  large  measure 
due  to  the  social  and  economic  conditions  of  the  city  population. 


THE   END      __^ 

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